Vibrio pectenicida strain FHCF-3 is a causative agent of sea star wasting disease

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Data availability

Metatranscriptomic and 16S rRNA gene sequence datasets are archived in the NCBI Short Read Archive (BioProject no. PRJNA1195080). The whole-genome of V. pectenicida strain FHCF-3 is available from the NCBI GenBank Repository (accession no. JBLZMR000000000), with raw sequence reads archived in the NCBI Short Read Archive (BioProject no. PRJNA1232168). The complete 16S rRNA gene sequences of V. pectenicida strain FHCF-3 are deposited in the NCBI GenBank Repository (accessions PQ700178 and PQ763222–PQ763229). Source data are provided with this paper.

Code availability

Code generated in this study is available via Dryad at https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.5mkkwh7g9 (ref. 41).

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Acknowledgements

B. Blake and N. Siu helped to acquire permits for this work. K. Bachen, H. Carson, K. Collins, D. Currie-Olsen, T. Frierson, T. Froese, J. Kocian, E. Loose, Z. Monteith, O. Pontier, G. Sadlier-Brown, A. Schmill, K. Sowul, B. Stevick and D. VanMaanen assisted with field collections. F. Curliss, A. Kalytiak-Davis, C. Schwab and V. Valdez supported sea star transfers from and sample collections at Friday Harbor Laboratories. D. Rogers provided local shellfish to feed experimental stars. J. Beal, C. Grady, J. Gregg, A. MacKenzie and W. Richards provided facilities and logistical support at the USGS Marrowstone Marine Field Station and H. Kuttenkeuler, K. Rolheiser and M. Winningham aided experiment monitoring and sampling. Y. Gouin and A. Nimmon assisted with entering and collating data. C. L. J. Huang assisted with preparation of culture media. C. Burge, C. Conway, J. Hansen, A. Hawthorn, J. Lovy, A. Roberts and Q. Yang provided advice. Graphic illustrations are credited to M. Minck. We are grateful for the support from E. Peterson, C. Munck, N. Eddy and J. Wilson. Funding was provided by The Nature Conservancy of California (C.D.H. and A.-L.M.G.), the Tula Foundation (A.-L.M.G. and C.A.S.), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery grant no. RPGIN-2020-06515 (C.A.S.), the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund Infrastructure award no. 25412 (C.A.S.), the University of British Columbia, the USGS Biological Threats Research Program, Ecosystems Mission Area (P.K.H.) and the Quantitative and Evolutionary STEM Traineeship NRT-1735316 (A.M.). Any use of trade, firm or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US government.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Katherine M. Davis

    Present address: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Port Townsend, WA, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Melanie B. Prentice, Amy M. Chan, Katherine M. Davis, Jan F. Finke, Kevin X. Zhong & Curtis A. Suttle

  2. Hakai Institute, Campbell River, British Colombia, Canada

    Melanie B. Prentice, Katherine M. Davis, Jan F. Finke, Colleen T. E. Kellogg, Rute B. G. Clemente-Carvalho, Carolyn Prentice & Alyssa-Lois M. Gehman

  3. School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Grace A. Crandall

  4. US Geological Survey, Western Fisheries Research Center, Marrowstone Marine Field Station, Nordland, WA, USA

    Paul K. Hershberger

  5. Friday Harbor Laboratories, University of Washington, Friday Harbor, WA, USA

    Jason Hodin & C. Drew Harvell

  6. Department of Biology, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA

    Andrew McCracken

  7. Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Colleen T. E. Kellogg, Curtis A. Suttle & Alyssa-Lois M. Gehman

  8. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    C. Drew Harvell

  9. Department of Microbiology & Immunology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Curtis A. Suttle

  10. Department of Botany, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Curtis A. Suttle

Authors

  1. Melanie B. Prentice
  2. Grace A. Crandall
  3. Amy M. Chan
  4. Katherine M. Davis
  5. Paul K. Hershberger
  6. Jan F. Finke
  7. Jason Hodin
  8. Andrew McCracken
  9. Colleen T. E. Kellogg
  10. Rute B. G. Clemente-Carvalho
  11. Carolyn Prentice
  12. Kevin X. Zhong
  13. C. Drew Harvell
  14. Curtis A. Suttle
  15. Alyssa-Lois M. Gehman

Contributions

Conceptualization: M.B.P., G.A.C., A.M.C., K.M.D., P.K.H., J.F.F., C.D.H., C.A.S., A.-L.M.G. Methodology: M.B.P., G.A.C., A.M.C., K.M.D., P.K.H., C.T.E.K., C.D.H., C.A.S., A.-L.M.G. Formal analysis: M.B.P., A.M.C., K.X.Z., A.-L.M.G. Investigation: M.B.P., G.A.C., A.M.C., K.M.D., A.M., R.B.G.C.-C., C.P., A.-L.M.G. Resources: M.B.P., G.A.C., K.M.D., P.K.H., J.H., A.M., C.A.S., A.-L.M.G. Data curation: M.B.P., G.A.C., A.M.C., K.M.D., C.P., A.-L.M.G. Writing—original draft: M.B.P., A.-L.M.G. Writing—review and editing: M.B.P., G.A.C., A.M.C., K.M.D., P.K.H., J.F.F., J.H., A.M., C.T.E.K., R.B.G.C.-C., C.P., K.X.Z., C.D.H., C.A.S., A.-L.M.G. Visualization: M.B.P., K.X.Z., A.-L.M.G. Supervision: A.M.C., C.D.H., C.A.S., A.-L.M.G. Funding acquisition: A.M.C., C.D.H., C.A.S., A.-L.M.G.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Melanie B. Prentice or Alyssa-Lois M. Gehman.

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Prentice, M.B., Crandall, G.A., Chan, A.M. et al. Vibrio pectenicida strain FHCF-3 is a causative agent of sea star wasting disease. Nat Ecol Evol 9, 1739–1751 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-025-02797-2

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