DOI: 10.5061/dryad.8r082
title: Data from: Global distribution of Chelonid fibropapilloma-associated herpesvirus among clinically healthy sea turtles

description: Background: Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a neoplastic disease characterized
 by cutaneous tumours that has been documented to infect all sea turtle
 species. Chelonid fibropapilloma-associated herpesvirus (CFPHV) is
 believed to be the aetiological agent of FP, based principally on
 consistent PCR-based detection of herpesvirus DNA sequences from FP
 tumours. We used a recently described PCR-based assay that targets 3
 conserved CFPHV genes, to survey 208 green turtles (Chelonia mydas). This
 included both FP tumour exhibiting, and clinically healthy (i.e.
 presenting no visual evidence of neoplasia) individuals. An additional 129
 globally distributed clinically healthy individual sea turtles;
 representing four other species were also screened. Results: CFPHV DNA
 sequences were obtained from 37/37 (100%) FP exhibiting green turtles, and
 45/300 (15%) clinically healthy animals spanning all five species.
 Although the frequency of infected individuals per turtle population
 varied considerably, most global populations contained at least one CFPHV
 positive individual, with the exception of various turtle species from the
 Arabian Gulf and Northern Indian Ocean, as well as hawksbill turtles
 (Eretmochelys imbricata) from Puerto Rico. Haplotype analysis of the
 different gene markers clustered the CFPHV DNA sequences for two of the
 markers (UL18 and UL22) in turtles from Turks and Caicos separate to all
 others, regardless of host species or geographic origin. Conclusion:
 Presence of CFPHV DNA within globally distributed samples for all five
 species of sea turtle was confirmed. While 100 % of the FP exhibiting
 green turtles yielded CFPHV sequences, surprisingly, so did 15% of the
 clinically healthy turtles. We hypothesize that turtle populations with
 zero (0%) CFPHV frequency may be attributed to possible environmental
 differences and/or genetic resistance in these individuals. Our results
 provide first data on the prevalence of CFPHV among seemingly healthy
 turtles; a factor that may not be directly correlated to the disease
 incidence, but directly provides evidence of a long-term co-evolutionary
 latent infection interaction between CFPHV and its turtle-host across
 species. Finally, computational analysis of amino acid variants within the
 Turks and Caicos samples suggest potential functional importance in a
 substitution for marker UL18 that encodes the major capsid protein gene,
 which potentially could explain differences in pathogenicity.
 Nevertheless, such a theory remains to be validated by further research.
description: Haplotype sequences
 listDetailed list of
 haplotype DNA sequence variants found for the highly conserved regions for
 three short-fragments markers (UL18, UL22 and UL27) within the CFPHV
 genome.Short fragment detailed
 haplotype sequences.txtSummarised haplotype and
 amino acid sequences listSummarised list of
 haplotype DNA sequences and amino acid variants found for the highly
 conserved regions for three short-fragments markers (UL18, UL22 and UL27)
 within the CFPHV genome.File S4_haplotypes and
 aa.xlsx