This
fungus has become a major threat to amphibians as they develop
chytridiomycosis, which causes death in susceptible species. The first outbreaks in the late 1990s
occurred in Australia and Central America, then the fungus spread worldwide
on amphibians and caused population declines or extinctions in several
regions. It is an external pathogen
that attaches to keratinized portions of amphibians, including the mouthparts
of tadpoles and the integument of adults.
The fungus produces sporangia that spread with flagellated zoospores,
by direct contact of hosts. A
degradation of the keratin layer in the host is usually followed by
death. Although over 100 amphibian
species can be infected, susceptibility is mostly life stage and species
specific. Fungus outbreaks are
associated with local and possible species extinctions in Australia, Central
America, and the United States..
The
recent emergence of chytridiomycosis in amphibians may be related to
environmental pollutants and habitat destruction. The first outbreaks occurred in 1998 in both Australia and
Central America. Since then
infections have been documented throughout the Americas, Europe and Southeast
Asia. Chytrid fungus infections are
known from 1938 museum specimens of African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis), which points to an
African origin.
REFERENCES:
Andre, S. E, J. Parker
& C. J. Briggs. 2008. Effect of temperature on host response to Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis infection
in the mountain yellow-legged frog Lithobates muscosa). Journal of Wildlife Diseases. 44
(3): 716720.
Bai, C.; T. W. Garner
& Y. Li. 2010. First evidence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in China:
discovery of chytridiomycosis in introduced American bullfrogs and native
amphibians in the Yunnan Province, China .
Dis Aquatic Org. 92 (1): 241244.
Berger, L, A. D. Hyatt, R. Speare & J.
E. Longcore. 2005. Life cycle stages of the amphibian chytrid Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. Dis. Aquatic Org. 68 (1): 5163.
Berger, L, R. Speare, P.
Daszak, D. E. Green, A. A. Cunningham, C. L. Goggin, R. Slocombe, M. A.
Ragan, A. D. Hyatt, K. R. McDonald, H. B. Hines, K. R. Lips, G. Marantelli
& H. Parkes. 1998. Chytridiomycosis causes amphibian
mortality associated with population declines in the rain forests of
Australia and Central America.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States
of America. 95 (15): 90316.
Bovero, S.,
G. Sotgiu G., C. Angelini, S.
Doglio, E. Gazzaniga, A. A. Cunningham & T. W. Garner. 2008.
Detection of chytridiomycosis caused by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in the endangered sardinian
newt (Euproctus platycephalus),
in Southern Sardinia, Italy. Journal
of Wildlife Diseases. 44 (3):
712715.
Brodman, R. & J. T.
Briggler. 2008. Batrachochytrium
dendrobatidis in Ambystoma
jeffersonianum larvae in southern Indiana . Herpetological Review.
39 (3): 320321.
Byrne, M. W., E. P.
Davie & J. W. Gibbons. 2008. Batrachochytrium
dendrobatidis occurrence in Eurycea
cirrigera . Southeastern Naturalist. 7 (3): 551555.
Courtois, E. A., P. Gaucher, J. Chave &
D. S. Schmeller. 2015.
Widespread Occurrence of Bd in French Guiana, South America. PLOS
ONE. 10 (4): 125-128.
Daszak, P., A. A.
Cuningham & A. D.
Hyatt. 2003. Infection disease and amphibian population
declines . Divers. Distrib. 9 (2):
141150.
Daszak, P., A. A.
Cunningham & A. D.
Hyatt. 2003. Infectious disease and amphibian
population declines. Diversity and
Distributions. 9 (2): 14150.
Daszak. P., A. Strieby, A. A. Cunningham, J. E.
Longcore, C. C. Brown & D.
Porter. 2004. Experimental evidence that the bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) is a potential carrier
of chytridiomycosis, an emerging fungal disease of amphibians. Herpetological
Journal. 14: 201207.
Di Rosa, I.,
et al. 2007. The Proximate Cause of Frog
Declines?. Nature. 447 (7144): E4E5.
Di Renzo, Graziella; Elise Zipkin, Evan Grant, D. Campbe, J.
Andrew Royle, Ana Longo, Kelly Zamudio
& Karen Lips. 2018.
Ecoevolutionary rescue promotes hostpathogen coexistence. Ecological Applications. 28 (8): 19481962.
Dortaj, I. M. & M.
J. San Francisco. 2008. Chemotaxis of the amphibian pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and its
response to a variety of attractants.
Mycologia. 100 (1): 15.
Erismis, U. C., M.
Konuk, T. Yoldas, P. Agyar, D. Yumuk
& S. E. Korcan. 2014. Survey of Turkey's endemic amphibians for
chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, in
Turkey. Journal of Wildlife
Diseases. 111 (2): 153157.
Fisher, M. C., T. W.
Garner & S. F. Walker. 2009.
Global emergence of Batrachochytrium
dendrobatidis and amphibian chytridiomycosis inspace, time, and
host. Annual Review of Microbiology.
63: 291310.
Gaertner, J. P., M. R. Forstner,
L. O'Donnell & D. Hahn. 2009.
Detection of Batrachochytrium
dendrobatidis in endemic salamander species from Central
Texas. Eco Health. 6 (1): 2026.
Gaertner, J. P.,
J. A. Mendoza, M. R. Forstner, T. Neang &
D. Hahn D. 2011. Detection of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in frogs from different
locations in Cambodia. Herpetological
Review. 42: 546548.
Garner. T. W.,
M. W. Perkins, P. Govindarajulu, D. Seglie, S. Walker, A. A. Cunningham &
M. C. Fisher. 2006.
The emerging amphibian pathogen Batrachochytrium
dendrobatidis globally infects introduced populations of the North
American bullfrog, Lithobates catesbeiana.
Biol. Lett. 2 (3): 4559.
Herrera, R. A.,
M. M. Steciow & G. S. Natale. 2005. Chytrid fungus
parasitizing the wild amphibian Leptodactylus
ocellatus (Anura: Leptodactylidae) in Argentina . Diseases of Aquatic Organisms. 64
(3): 24752.
Johnson, M. L. &
R. Speare. 2005.
Possible modes of dissemination of the amphibian chytrid Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in the
environment. Dis. Aquat. Org. 65
(3): 1816.
Kats,
L. B. & R. P. Ferrer. 2003. Alien predators
and amphibian declines: review of two decades of science and the transition
to conservation. Diversity and
Distributions. 9 (2): 99110.
Kusrini,
M. D., L. F. Skerratt, S. Garland, L. Berger & W. Endarwin. 2008.
Chytridiomycosis in frogs of Mount Gede Pangrango, Indonesia. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms. 82 (3):
187194.
Lehtinen, M., Y. C. Kam & C. L. Richards. 2008.
Preliminary surveys for Batrachochytrium
dendrobatidis in Taiwan/
Herpetological Review. 39 (3): 317318
Lips, K. R. 1999.
Mass mortality and population declines of anurans at an upland site in
western Panama. Conservation Biology. 13 (1): 117125.
Longcore, J. E., A.
P. Pessier & D. K. Nichols. 1999. Batrachochytrium Dendrobatidis gen. et sp. nov, a chytrid pathogenic to
amphibians. Mycologia. 91 (2): 219227.
Lovich, R., J. J. Ryan,
A. P. Pessier &
B. Claypool. 2008. Infection with the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in a
non-native Lithobates berlandieri
below sea level in the Coachella Valley, California, USA. Herpetological Review. 39 (3): 315317.
Martel, A.; A. Spitzen-van der Sluijs, M. Blooi,
W. Bert, R. Ducatelle, M. C. Fisher,
A. Woeltjes, W. Bosman, K.
Chiers, F. Bossuyt &
F. Pasmans. 2013. Batrachochytrium
salamandrivorans sp. nov. causes lethal chytridiomycosis in
amphibians. Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 110 (38): 1532515329.
Max, R.; Molly C.
Womack, Allison Q. Byrne, Obed Hernαndez-Gσmez, Clay F. Noss, Andrew P. Rothstein, David C. Blackburn, James P. Collins, Martha L. Crump,
Michelle S. Koo & Priya Nanjappa. 2020. Comment on
Amphibian fungal panzootic causes catastrophic and ongoing loss of biodiversity. Science. 367 (6484): 1838.
McLeod, D. S., J. A.
Sheridan, W. Jiraungkoorskul & W. Khonsue. 2008.
A survey for chytrid fungus in Thai amphibians. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. 56: 199204.
McMahon, Taegan A. et
al. 2013. Chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium
dendrobatidis has nonamphibian hosts and releases chemicals that
cause pathology in the absence of infection.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110.1 (2013): 210-215.
Web, 0. 2020.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States
of America. 110 (1): 210215.
Mendoza,
J. A., J. P. Gaertner, J. Holden, M. R. Forstner &
D. Hahn. 2011. Detection of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis on amphibians in Pursat
Province, Cambodia. Herpetological
Review. 42: 542545.
Piotrowski, J. S., S. Annis
& J. E. Longcore.
2004. Physiology of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, a
chytrid pathogen of amphibians.
Mycologia. 96 (1): 915.
Reeves, M. K. 2008.
Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis
in wood frogs (Lithobates sylvatica)
from Three National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska, USA. Herpetological Review. 39 (1): 6870
.
Ron, S. R. 2005.
Predicting the Distribution of the Amphibian Pathogen B. dendrobatidis in the New World. Biotropica. 37 (2): 209221.
Rowley, J., S. K. Chan,
W. S. Tang, R. Speare, L. F. Skerratt, R. A. Alford, K. S. Cheung, C.
Y. Ho &
R. Campbell. 2007. Survey for the amphibianchytrid Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in Hong
Kong in native amphibians and in the international amphibian trade. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms. 78 (2):
8795.
Schloegel, L. M., J. M. Hero, L. Berger, R. Speare, K. McDonald
& P. Daszak. 2006.
The decline of the sharp-snouted day frog (Taudactylus acutiostris): the first documented case of
extinction by infection in a free-ranging wildlife species? EcoHealth. 3: 3540.
Symonds, E. P., D. J. Trott, P. S. Bird & P. Mills.
2008. Growth characteristics
and enzyme activity in Batrachochytrium
dendrobatidis isolates. Mycopathologia. 166 (3): 143147.
Voyles, J., S. Young, L. Berger, C. Campbell, W. F.
Voyles, A. Dinudom, D. Cook, R. Webb, R. A. Alford, L. F. Skerratt
& R. Speare. 2009.
Pathogenesis of chytridiomycosis, a cause of catastrophic amphibian
declines. Science. 326 (5952): 582585.
Wei, Y.;
K. Xu; D.-Z. Zhu; X.-F. Chen & X.-L. Wang. 2010. First Early-spring survey for Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in wild Rana dybowskii in Heilongjiang Province,
China. Dis Aquat Org. 92 (3): 241244.
Weldon
C., L. H. du Preez, A. D.
Hyatt, R. Muller & R.
Spears. 2004. Origin of the amphibian chytrid
fungus. Emerging Infect. Dis. 10 (12): 21005.
Woodhams, D. C., R. A. Alford
& G. Maranteli. 2003. Emerging disease of amphibians cured by
elevated body temperature. Dis.
Aquat. Org. 55 (1): 657.
Yang, H.; H. Baek;
R. Speare; R. Webb; S. Park;
T. Kim; K. C. Lasater; S. Shin;
S. Son; J. Park; M. Min;
Y. Kim; K. Na; H. Lee & S. Park. 2008.
First detection of the amphibian chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in
free-ranging populations of amphibians on mainland Asia: survey in South
Korea. Dis Aquat Org. 86 (1): 913.
|