Evolution and lineage dynamics of a transmissible cancer in Tasmanian devils

• Published in: PLoS biology Vol. 18; no. 11; p. e3000926
• Main Authors: Kwon, Young Mi, Gori, Kevin, Park, Naomi, Potts, Nicole, Swift, Kate, Wang, Jinhong, Stammnitz, Maximilian R, Cannell, Naomi, Baez-Ortega, Adrian, Comte, Sebastien, Fox, Samantha, Harmsen, Colette, Huxtable, Stewart, Jones, Menna, Kreiss, Alexandre, Lawrence, Clare, Lazenby, Billie, Peck, Sarah, Pye, Ruth, Woods, Gregory, Zimmermann, Mona, Wedge, David C, Pemberton, David, Stratton, Michael R, Hamede, Rodrigo, Murchison, Elizabeth P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 01.11.2020; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Animal diseases; Animal Diseases - epidemiology; Animal Diseases - genetics; Animal Diseases - transmission; Animals; Biology and Life Sciences; Cancer; Cell culture; Computer and Information Sciences; Copy number; Disease transmission; Divergence; DNA Copy Number Variations; Evolution; Evolution, Molecular; Facial Neoplasms - epidemiology; Facial Neoplasms - genetics; Facial Neoplasms - veterinary; Female; Genomic Instability; Male; Marsupialia - genetics; Medicine and Health Sciences; Metastases; Metastasis; Nucleotides; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; Population; Subgroups; Tasmania - epidemiology; Telomere Shortening - genetics; Tumor Cells, Cultured; Tumors; Tasmania; Tasmania Australia
• ISSN: 1545-7885; 1544-9173; 1545-7885
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000926

Devil facial tumour 1 (DFT1) is a transmissible cancer clone endangering the Tasmanian devil. The expansion of DFT1 across Tasmania has been documented, but little is known of its evolutionary history. We analysed genomes of 648 DFT1 tumours collected throughout the disease range between 2003 and 2018. DFT1 diverged early into five clades, three spreading widely and two failing to persist. One clade has replaced others at several sites, and rates of DFT1 coinfection are high. DFT1 gradually accumulates copy number variants (CNVs), and its telomere lengths are short but constant. Recurrent CNVs reveal genes under positive selection, sites of genome instability, and repeated loss of a small derived chromosome. Cultured DFT1 cell lines have increased CNV frequency and undergo highly reproducible convergent evolution. Overall, DFT1 is a remarkably stable lineage whose genome illustrates how cancer cells adapt to diverse environments and persist in a parasitic niche.