Project Terminal: Devils Virus

Tasmanian devil cells have 14 chromosomes ; the oldest-known strain of the tumour cells have thirteen chromosomes, nine of which are recognisable and four of which are mutated "marker" chromosomes. In , a second genetically distinct strain of DFTD was identified, [21] which was tetraploid , not diploid like the main form of the cancer.

The tetraploid form has been linked to lower mortality rates. DFTD likely originated in the Schwann cells of a single devil. Wild Tasmanian devil populations are being monitored to track the spread of the disease and to identify changes in disease prevalence. Field monitoring involves trapping devils within a defined area to check for the presence of the disease and determine the number of affected animals.

The same area is visited repeatedly to characterise the spread of the disease over time. So far, it has been established that the short-term effects of the disease in an area can be severe. Long-term monitoring at replicated sites will be essential to assess whether these effects remain, or whether populations can recover. Picking a genetically diverse breeding stock, defined by the genome sequence, may help with conservation efforts. Due to the decreased life expectancy of the devils with DFTD, affected individuals have begun breeding at younger ages in the wild, with reports that many only live to participate in one breeding cycle.

The decline in devil numbers is also an ecological problem, since its presence in the Tasmanian forest ecosystem is believed to have prevented the establishment of the red fox , with the most recent known organism accidentally being introduced into Tasmania in In response to the impact of DFTD on Tasmanian devil populations, 47 devils have been shipped to mainland Australian wildlife parks to attempt to preserve the genetic diversity of the species.

This project aims to create a set of one thousand genetically representative devils, and is now a major focus of the insurance policy. The Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries and Water is experimenting on culling infected animals with some signs of success. A diagnostic blood test was developed in mid to screen for the disease.

They have only one major histocompatibility complex , whereas the cancerous cells have both. In , a photographer from The Netherlands [45] captured several images of devils with facial tumours near Mount William in Tasmania's northeast. Around the same time, farmers reported a decline in devil numbers. The theory that cancer cells themselves could be an infective agent the Allograft Theory [48] was first offered in by Pearse, Swift and colleagues, [49] who analysed DFTD cells from devils in several locations, determining that all DFTD cells sampled were genetically identical to each other, and genetically distinct from their hosts and from all other individual Tasmanian devils whose genetics had been studied; this allowed them to conclude that the cancer originated from a single individual and spread from it, rather than arising repeatedly, and independently.

Initially, it was suspected that devils had low genetic diversity, so that their immune system did not recognise the tumour cells as foreign. The devil population on the peninsula decreased dramatically. In March Nick Mooney wrote a memo to be circulated within the Parks and Wildlife Services calling for more funding to study the disease, but the call for funding was edited out before the memo was presented to Bryan Green , then Tasmania's Minister for Primary Industries, Water and Environment. At the time, it was thought that a retrovirus was a possible cause. David Chadwick of the state Animal Health Laboratory said that the laboratory did not have the resources needed to research the possibility of a retrovirus.

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The Tasmanian Conservation Trust criticised the Tasmanian government for providing insufficient funds for research and suggested that DFTD could be zoonotic , posing a threat to livestock and humans. Calicivirus , poison , agricultural chemicals, and habitat fragmentation combined with a retrovirus were other proposed causes. She was recaptured with bite marks on her face, and returned to live with the other devils in the park. She wounded a male and by October both devils had DFTD, which was subsequently spread to two others an incident that in retrospect would be understood in the context of the allograft theory of transmission.

It was reassessed in In , devils are at the verge of extinction as the localised populations were shown to be declined by 90 per cent and an overall species decline of more than 80 per cent in less than 20 years, with some models predicting extinction.

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Despite this, devil populations persist in disease-stricken areas. The genes have already existed in the Tasmanian devil as part of their immune system. They increased in frequency due to natural selection. That is, the individuals with particular forms of these genes alleles survived and reproduced disproportionately to those that lacked the specific variants when disease was present.

In , a devil—given the name Cedric by those who treated and worked with him—was thought to have a natural immunity to the disease, but developed two facial tumours in late The tumours were removed, [70] and officials thought Cedric was recovering well; but in September , the cancer was discovered to have spread to the lungs, leading to his euthanasia. Vaccination with irradiated cancer cells has not proven successful. In , a study using mice as a model for Tasmanian devils suggested that a DFTD vaccine could be beneficial. In March , scientists at the University of Tasmania presented an apparent first report of having successfully treated Tasmanian devils with the disease, by injecting live cancer cells into the infected devils to stimulate their immune system to recognise and fight the disease.

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