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Roth SA, Griffis-Kyle KL, Barnes MA. Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in the Arid and Thermally Extreme Sonoran Desert. ECOHEALTH 2023; 20:370-380. [PMID: 38243042 DOI: 10.1007/s10393-023-01668-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2023] [Accepted: 12/08/2023] [Indexed: 01/21/2024]
Abstract
Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), the causative agent of the devastating global amphibian disease chytridiomycosis, was not projected to threaten amphibians in hot and arid regions due to its sensitivity to heat and desiccation. However, Bd is being detected more frequently than ever in hot and arid regions of Australia and the USA, challenging our current understanding of the environmental tolerances of the pathogen under natural conditions. We surveyed for Bd in an extremely hot and arid portion of the Sonoran Desert, where the pathogen is not projected to occur, and related presence and prevalence of the pathogen to local environmental conditions. We collected eDNA samples from isolated desert water sites including six tinajas and 13 catchments in June and August of 2020 and swabbed a total of 281 anurans of three species (red-spotted toad Anaxyrus punctatus, Couch's spadefoot Scaphiopus couchii, and the Sonoran Desert toad Incillius alvarius) across five catchments and six tinajas from June to September of 2020. Overall, Bd occurred at 68.4% of sites, despite extreme heat and aridity routinely exceeding tolerances established in laboratory studies. Average summer maximum air and water temperatures were 40.7°C and 30.7°C, respectively, and sites received an average of just 16.9 mm of precipitation throughout the summer monsoon season. Prevalence was low (5.7%) across species and life stage. Our results demonstrate that Bd is capable of persisting and infecting amphibians beyond its projected range, indicating a need to account for higher thermal tolerances when quantifying risk of Bd presence and infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sadie A Roth
- Department of Natural Resources Management, Texas Tech University, 2500 Broadway, Lubbock, TX, 79409, USA.
| | - Kerry L Griffis-Kyle
- Department of Natural Resources Management, Texas Tech University, 2500 Broadway, Lubbock, TX, 79409, USA
| | - Matthew A Barnes
- Department of Natural Resources Management, Texas Tech University, 2500 Broadway, Lubbock, TX, 79409, USA
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Haddad CF, Lopes CM, Becker CG, da Silva FR, Lyra ML. From genes to ecosystems: a synthesis of amphibian biodiversity research in Brazil. BIOTA NEOTROPICA 2022. [DOI: 10.1590/1676-0611-bn-2022-1375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Abstract Here, we summarize examples of significant advances in amphibian research supported by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), focusing on recent discoveries in the fields of community ecology, habitat change, infection diseases, and multipurpose DNA sequencing. We demonstrated that FAPESP has been fundamental not only by directly funding research projects and scholarships, but also through its science training policy, fostering international collaborations with world-class research institutions, improving and consolidating new lines of research that often depended on a synergetic combination of different knowledge and complex tools. We emphasized that future studies will continue to focus on basic questions, such as description of new species, as well as taxonomic and systematic corrections. Furthermore, we also expect that there will be a strong integration among different disciplines using novel bioinformatics tools and modeling approaches, such as machine learning. These new approaches will be critical to further develop our understanding of foundational questions of amphibian life-history trait variation, disease transmission, community assembly, biogeography, and population forecasts under different global change scenarios such as agricultural expansion, agrochemical use, habitat loss, and climate change.
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TEMPERATURE AS A DRIVER OF THE PATHOGENICITY AND VIRULENCE OF AMPHIBIAN CHYTRID FUNGUS BATRACHOCHYTRIUM DENDROBATIDIS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. J Wildl Dis 2021; 57:477-494. [PMID: 34019674 DOI: 10.7589/jwd-d-20-00105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2020] [Accepted: 02/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Chytridiomycosis, caused by the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), is a leading cause of global amphibian declines. Severe infections with Bd can lead to cardiac arrest, and mass deaths during epidemics have been reported. Temperature, pH, salinity, and moisture are important determinants of the survival, growth, reproduction, and pathogenicity of Bd, as well as its effect on amphibian populations. Here, we synthesize current knowledge on the role of temperature as a driver of the pathogenicity and virulence of Bd to better understand the effects of temperature on amphibian defense mechanisms against infection. This review advises on research direction and management approaches to benefit amphibian populations affected by Bd. We conclude by offering guidelines for four levels of temperature monitoring in amphibian field studies to improve consistency between studies: regional climate, habitat, microhabitat, and amphibian host.
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Greenspan SE, Lyra ML, Migliorini GH, Kersch-Becker MF, Bletz MC, Lisboa CS, Pontes MR, Ribeiro LP, Neely WJ, Rezende F, Romero GQ, Woodhams DC, Haddad CFB, Toledo LF, Becker CG. Arthropod-bacteria interactions influence assembly of aquatic host microbiome and pathogen defense. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 286:20190924. [PMID: 31238845 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.0924] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The host-associated microbiome is vital to host immunity and pathogen defense. In aquatic ecosystems, organisms may interact with environmental bacteria to influence the pool of potential symbionts, but the effects of these interactions on host microbiome assembly and pathogen resistance are unresolved. We used replicated bromeliad microecosystems to test for indirect effects of arthropod-bacteria interactions on host microbiome assembly and pathogen burden, using tadpoles and the fungal amphibian pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis as a model host-pathogen system. Arthropods influenced host microbiome assembly by altering the pool of environmental bacteria, with arthropod-bacteria interactions specifically reducing host colonization by transient bacteria and promoting antimicrobial components of aquatic bacterial communities. Arthropods also reduced fungal zoospores in the environment, but fungal infection burdens in tadpoles corresponded most closely with arthropod-mediated patterns in microbiome assembly. This result indicates that the cascading effects of arthropods on the maintenance of a protective host microbiome may be more strongly linked to host health than negative effects of arthropods on pools of pathogenic zoospores. Our work reveals tight links between healthy ecosystem dynamics and the functioning of host microbiomes, suggesting that ecosystem disturbances such as loss of arthropods may have downstream effects on host-associated microbial pathogen defenses and host fitness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sasha E Greenspan
- 1 Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Alabama , Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 , USA
| | - Mariana L Lyra
- 2 Department of Zoology and Aquaculture Center (CAUNESP), Universidade Estadual Paulista , Rio Claro , SP 13506-900 , Brazil
| | - Gustavo H Migliorini
- 3 Programa de Pós-graduação em Biologia Animal, Universidade Estadual Paulista 'Júlio de Mesquita Filho' , São José do Rio Preto SP 15054-000 , Brazil
| | - Mônica F Kersch-Becker
- 1 Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Alabama , Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 , USA
| | - Molly C Bletz
- 4 Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Boston , Boston, MA 02125 , USA
| | | | - Mariana R Pontes
- 6 Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas , Campinas, SP 13083-862 , Brazil.,8 Laboratório de História Natural de Anfíbios Brasileiros (LaHNAB), Departamento de Biologia Animal, Universidade Estadual de Campinas , Campinas, SP 13083-862 , Brazil
| | - Luisa P Ribeiro
- 6 Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas , Campinas, SP 13083-862 , Brazil.,8 Laboratório de História Natural de Anfíbios Brasileiros (LaHNAB), Departamento de Biologia Animal, Universidade Estadual de Campinas , Campinas, SP 13083-862 , Brazil
| | - Wesley J Neely
- 1 Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Alabama , Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 , USA
| | - Felipe Rezende
- 6 Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas , Campinas, SP 13083-862 , Brazil
| | - Gustavo Q Romero
- 7 Departamento de Biologia Animal, Universidade Estadual de Campinas , Campinas SP 13083-862 , Brazil
| | - Douglas C Woodhams
- 4 Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Boston , Boston, MA 02125 , USA
| | - Célio F B Haddad
- 2 Department of Zoology and Aquaculture Center (CAUNESP), Universidade Estadual Paulista , Rio Claro , SP 13506-900 , Brazil
| | - Luís Felipe Toledo
- 8 Laboratório de História Natural de Anfíbios Brasileiros (LaHNAB), Departamento de Biologia Animal, Universidade Estadual de Campinas , Campinas, SP 13083-862 , Brazil
| | - C Guilherme Becker
- 1 Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Alabama , Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 , USA
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Mageski MM, Varela S, Roper JJ. Consequences of dispersal limitation and habitat fragmentation for the Brazilian heart-tongued frogs ( Phyllodytesspp.). AUSTRAL ECOL 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/aec.12591] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Marcio Marques Mageski
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia de Ecossistemas; Universidade Vila Velha; 29102-920 Vila Velha ES Brazil
| | - Sara Varela
- Museum für Naturkunde; Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science; Berlin Germany
| | - James Joseph Roper
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia de Ecossistemas; Universidade Vila Velha; 29102-920 Vila Velha ES Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação; Universidade Federal do Paraná; Curitiba PR Brazil
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