The etiology of Sea Star Wasting Syndrome is hypothesized to be caused by a densovirus, SSaDV, that has previously been reported on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of the United States. In this study, we reevaluated the presence of SSaDV among sea stars from the North American Atlantic Coast and in doing so discovered a novel densovirus we have named Asterias forbesi associated densovirus (AfaDV) that shares 78% nucleotide pairwise identity to SSaDV. In contrast to previous studies, SSaDV was not detected in sea stars from the North American Atlantic Coast. Using a variety of PCR-based techniques, we investigated the tissue tropism, host specificity, and prevalence of AfaDV among populations of sea stars at five locations along the Atlantic Coast. AfaDV was detected in three sea star species (Asterias forbesi, Asterias rubens, and Henricia sp.) found in this region and was highly prevalent (>80% of individuals tested, n=134), among sampled populations. AfaDV was detected in the body wall, gonads, and pyloric caeca (digestive gland) of specimens but was not detected in their coelomic fluid. A significant difference in viral load was found between tissue types with the pyloric caeca having the highest viral loads. Further investigation of Asterias forbesi gonad tissue found germline cells (oocytes) to be virus positive, suggesting a potential route of vertical transmission. Taken together, these observations show that the presence of AfaDV is not an indicator of Sea Star Wasting Syndrome because AfaDV is a common constituent of these animals' microbiome, regardless of health.

Importance Sea Star Wasting Syndrome is a disease primarily observed on the Pacific and Atlantic coast of North America that has significantly impacted sea star populations. The etiology of this disease is unknown though hypothesized to be caused by a densovirus, SSaDV. However, previous studies have not found a correlation between SSaDV to Sea Star Wasting Syndrome on the North American Atlantic Coast. This study suggests that this observation may be explained by the presence of a genetically similar densovirus, AfaDV, that may have confounded previous studies. SSaDV was not present in sea stars screened in this study, and instead AfaDV was commonly found in sea star populations across the New England region with no apparent signs of disease. These results suggest that sea star densoviruses may be common constituents of the animal's microbiome, and the diversity and extent of these viruses among wild populations may be greater than previously recognized.

据推测，海星浪费综合症的病因是由一种登革病毒SSaDV引起的，该病毒先前在美国的太平洋和大西洋沿岸都有报道。在这项研究中，我们重新评估了来自北大西洋大西洋沿岸海星中SSaDV的存在，并发现了一种新型的登革病毒，我们将其命名为Asterias forbesi相关登革病毒（AfaDV），与SSaDV具有78％的核苷酸成对同一性。与以前的研究相比，在北美大西洋沿岸的海星中未检测到SSaDV。使用多种基于PCR的技术，我们研究了大西洋沿岸五个位置的海星种群之间的组织嗜性，宿主特异性和AfaDV的患病率。在三种海星物种中检测到AfaDV（罗氏forbesi，罗氏鲁和Henricia SP。）在该区域中发现，是非常普遍的（>测试的个体的80％，N = 134），取样的群体中。在标本的体壁，性腺和幽门盲肠（消化腺）中检测到AfaDV，但在其体液中未检测到AfaDV。发现不同类型组织之间的病毒载量存在明显差异，幽门盲肠的病毒载量最高。进一步调查Asterias forbesi性腺组织发现种系细胞（卵母细胞）是病毒阳性的，提示了垂直传播的潜在途径。综上所述，这些观察结果表明，AfaDV的存在不是海星浪费综合征的指标，因为无论健康状况如何，AfaDV都是这些动物微生物组的常见组成部分。

重要性海星浪费综合症是主要在北美的太平洋和大西洋沿岸观察到的一种疾病，已严重影响了海星种群。尽管推测该疾病的病因学是由Denavirus SSaDV引起的。但是，以前的研究尚未发现SSaDV与北美大西洋沿岸海星浪费综合症之间存在相关性。这项研究表明，这种观察结果可能是由于存在遗传相似的densovirus AfaDV所致，该病毒可能混淆了先前的研究。在这项研究筛选的海星中不存在SSaDV，而是在新英格兰地区的海星种群中普遍发现AfaDV，没有明显的疾病迹象。这些结果表明，海星densoviruses可能是动物微生物组的常见成分，