TY - JOUR
T1 - Development and worldwide use of non-lethal, and minimal population-level impact, protocols for the isolation of amphibian chytrid fungi
AU - Fisher, Matthew C.
AU - Ghosh, Pria
AU - Shelton, Jennifer M.G.
AU - Bates, Kieran
AU - Brookes, Lola
AU - Wierzbicki, Claudia
AU - Rosa, Gonçalo M.
AU - Farrer, Rhys A.
AU - Aanensen, David M.
AU - Alvarado-Rybak, Mario
AU - Bataille, Arnaud
AU - Berger, Lee
AU - Böll, Susanne
AU - Bosch, Jaime
AU - Clare, Frances C.
AU - Courtois, Elodie A.
AU - Crottini, Angelica
AU - Cunningham, Andrew A.
AU - Doherty-Bone, Thomas M.
AU - Gebresenbet, Fikirte
AU - Gower, David J.
AU - Höglund, Jacob
AU - James, Timothy Y.
AU - Jenkinson, Thomas S.
AU - Kosch, Tiffany A.
AU - Lambertini, Carolina
AU - Laurila, Anssi
AU - Lin, Chun Fu
AU - Loyau, Adeline
AU - Martel, An
AU - Meurling, Sara
AU - Miaud, Claude
AU - Minting, Pete
AU - Ndriantsoa, Serge
AU - O'Hanlon, Simon J.
AU - Pasmans, Frank
AU - Rakotonanahary, Tsanta
AU - Rabemananjara, Falitiana C.E.
AU - Ribeiro, Luisa P.
AU - Schmeller, Dirk S.
AU - Schmidt, Benedikt R.
AU - Skerratt, Lee
AU - Smith, Freya
AU - Soto-Azat, Claudio
AU - Tessa, Giulia
AU - Toledo, Luís Felipe
AU - Valenzuela-Sánchez, Andrés
AU - Verster, Ruhan
AU - Vörös, Judit
AU - Waldman, Bruce
N1 - Funding Information:
T.W.J.G., M.C.F., D.S.S., A.L., E.C., F.C.C., J.B., A.A.C., C.M., F.S., B.R.S., S.O., were supported through the Biodiversa project RACE: Risk Assessment of Chytridiomycosis to European Amphibian Biodiversity (NERC standard grant NE/K014455/1 and NE/E006701/1; ANR-08-BDVA-002-03). M.C.F., J.S., C.W., P.G. were supported by the Leverhulme Trust (RPG-2014-273), M.C.F., A.C., C.W. were supported by the Morris Animal Foundation. J.V. was supported by the Bolyai János Research Grant of the Hunagrian Academy of Sciences (BO/00597/14). F.G. and D.G. were supported by the Conservation Leadership Programme Future Conservationist Award. C.S.A. was supported by Fondecyt (No. 1181758). M.C.F. and A.C. were supported by. Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund Project (152510704). GMR held a doctoral scholarship (SFRH/ BD/69194/2010) from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia. L.F.T., C.L., L.P.R. K.R.Z., T.Y.J., T.S.J. were supported by São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP #2016/25358-3), the National Counsel of Technological and Scientific Development (CNPq #300896/2016–6) and a Catalyzing New International Collaborations grant from the United States NSF (OISE-1159513). C.S.A. was supported by Fondecyt (No. 1181758). T.M.D. was supported by the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. B.W. was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (2015R1D1A1A01057282).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 The Author(s).
PY - 2018/12/1
Y1 - 2018/12/1
N2 - Parasitic chytrid fungi have emerged as a significant threat to amphibian species worldwide, necessitating the development of techniques to isolate these pathogens into culture for research purposes. However, early methods of isolating chytrids from their hosts relied on killing amphibians. We modified a pre-existing protocol for isolating chytrids from infected animals to use toe clips and biopsies from toe webbing rather than euthanizing hosts, and distributed the protocol to researchers as part of the BiodivERsA project RACE; here called the RML protocol. In tandem, we developed a lethal procedure for isolating chytrids from tadpole mouthparts. Reviewing a database of use a decade after their inception, we find that these methods have been applied across 5 continents, 23 countries and in 62 amphibian species. Isolation of chytrids by the non-lethal RML protocol occured in 18% of attempts with 207 fungal isolates and three species of chytrid being recovered. Isolation of chytrids from tadpoles occured in 43% of attempts with 334 fungal isolates of one species (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) being recovered. Together, these methods have resulted in a significant reduction and refinement of our use of threatened amphibian species and have improved our ability to work with this group of emerging pathogens.
AB - Parasitic chytrid fungi have emerged as a significant threat to amphibian species worldwide, necessitating the development of techniques to isolate these pathogens into culture for research purposes. However, early methods of isolating chytrids from their hosts relied on killing amphibians. We modified a pre-existing protocol for isolating chytrids from infected animals to use toe clips and biopsies from toe webbing rather than euthanizing hosts, and distributed the protocol to researchers as part of the BiodivERsA project RACE; here called the RML protocol. In tandem, we developed a lethal procedure for isolating chytrids from tadpole mouthparts. Reviewing a database of use a decade after their inception, we find that these methods have been applied across 5 continents, 23 countries and in 62 amphibian species. Isolation of chytrids by the non-lethal RML protocol occured in 18% of attempts with 207 fungal isolates and three species of chytrid being recovered. Isolation of chytrids from tadpoles occured in 43% of attempts with 334 fungal isolates of one species (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) being recovered. Together, these methods have resulted in a significant reduction and refinement of our use of threatened amphibian species and have improved our ability to work with this group of emerging pathogens.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85047237307&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41598-018-24472-2
DO - 10.1038/s41598-018-24472-2
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85047237307
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 8
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
IS - 1
M1 - 7772
ER -