By: Austin Weynand, MHS
Dr. Labonté lives and breathes, figuratively, in the ocean. At the University of British Columbia, she earned her PhD studying the breadth of single-stranded DNA viruses in marine environments. As a post-doc (of which she completed two), she studied
microorganisms from deep beneath the ocean floor, thriving among the sediment. Her career trajectory has led her to findings with little prior knowledge, and demand for her skills has grown.
Now, she finds herself at the helm of a research grant that will allow her to study viruses in oysters – the same ones that find themselves in restaurants across Houston and Galveston. “We know oysters are tested for bacterial diseases and
toxin production,” Labonté explains, “but there have been outbreaks of viruses such as Norovirus and Hepatitis A linked to them as well.” Since 2021, oyster farming has been allowed in Galveston Bay, but with limited checks
and balances in place. Dr. Labonté knows their potential for virus transmission is not well monitored, which begs the question: How prevalent are viruses among oysters, and do prevalences differ between farms?
Drs. Labonté and Bente plan to sample oysters at 5 sites across Galveston Bay (by commandeering a local research vessel) and test them against a whole digestive tract disease panel using UTMB’s BioFire system. Across the bridge at Labonté’s
Viral Ecology Lab, they will be tested for environmental viruses using metagenomic sequencing, as previously characterized in Dr. Labonté’s lab.1,2 All RNA and DNA viruses will be sequenced to see how they’re linked to
the microbiome of oysters. “Is there a core component that helps [the oysters] be protected from viral pathogens?” Labonté ponders. The answers lie beneath our murky bay.
The public health implication, pending findings, is that policy on testing oysters intended for consumption would be improved. Raw oysters from Galveston have been connected to an outbreak of norovirus in the past,
with 298 illnesses across 8 states in 2022. The FDA advised restaurants to avoid the sale of oysters from the area (or cook them thoroughly) and to use proper sanitation; yet testing is not included as a strategy and raw oysters are immensely popular.
The mixed economy of food sale and disease transmission would benefit from such regulation, relates Labonté.
Nearing the end of our interview, I asked Dr. Labonté what she wishes more scientists would learn about her work. She described a valuable nugget of wisdom: That viruses are “essential to the global ecosystem” – the many noninfectious
species that most people are unfamiliar with. “Each time we look at them we are reminded how critical a role they play in nutrient recycling and population control, [including] the termination of harmful algae blooms.” This pilot grant
will serve as a nexus of information in the study of both pathogenic viruses and viruses that populate, and heavily influence, the ecology of our oceans.
- Woods, A. C., Walker, J. R., Jackson, C. D., & Labonté, J. M. (2022). Record-Breaking Rain Event Altered Estuarine Viral Assemblages. Microorganisms, 10(4), 729. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10040729
- Labonté, J. M., & Campbell, K. L. (2022). There’s more to RNA viruses than diseases. Science, 376(6589), 138–139. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abo5590