Where does Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis come from?
B. dendrobatidis is common in African frogs from Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Western Africa (12,15) and declines in frog populations are poorly documented in Africa (7,16). These factors, combined with the global trade in X. laevis and X.
How does Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis spread?
Chytrid fungus is probably transferred by direct contact between frogs and tadpoles, or through exposure to infected water. The disease may not kill frogs immediately, and they can swim or hop to other areas before they die, spreading fungal spores to new ponds and streams.
What phylum is Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis?
Phylum Chytridiomycota
Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, commonly called chytrid disease, belongs to the Kingdom Fungi, Phylum Chytridiomycota, Class Chytridiomycetes, Order Chytridiales. It has not yet been assigned a family name. B. dendrobatidis is a zoosporic fungus, belonging to a broader group known as the chytrid fungi.
Where did BD originate?
The fungus turned up in other countries, but studies of its DNA suggest that Bd originated on the Korean Peninsula. In Asia, amphibians seem impervious to Bd, but when it got to other parts of the world — probably via the international trade in pet amphibians — the pathogen reached hundreds of vulnerable species.
What does Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis feed on?
B. dendrobatidis also contains a variety of proteolytic enzymes and esterases that help it digest amphibian cells and use amphibian skin as a nutrient source. Once the zoospore reaches its host, it forms a cyst underneath the surface of the skin, and initiates the reproductive portion of its life cycle.
Is Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis an invasive species everywhere?
Chytridiomycosis results from a sustained cutaneous infection by B. dendrobatidis; it is an emerging infectious disease of amphibians causing mass mortality and population declines worldwide (Berger et al., 1998; Daszak et al., 2003). Bd is among the world’s 100 worst invasive alien species (Lowe et al., 2004).
What is BD frog?
Cause. Chytridiomycosis is an infectious disease of amphibians caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). It was first discovered in 1993 in Australia after a massive mortality event involving several species of frog.
What kind of fungus is Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis?
Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis ( /bəˌtreɪkoʊˈkɪtriəm ˈdɛndroʊbətaɪdɪs/ bə-TRAY-koh-KIT-ree-əm DEN-droh-bə-ty-dis ), also known as Bd or the amphibian chytrid fungus, is a fungus that causes the disease chytridiomycosis in amphibians . In the decade after it was first discovered in 1998,…
How does Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis help amphibians in their life cycle?
B. dendrobatidis also contains a variety of proteolytic enzymes and esterases that help it digest amphibian cells and use amphibian skin as a nutrient source. Once the zoospore reaches its host, it forms a cyst underneath the surface of the skin, and initiates the reproductive portion of its life cycle.
Is there a second species of Batrachochytrium?
DNA analysis of the SSU – rDNA has corroborated the view, with the closest match to Chytridium confervae. A second species of Batrachochytrium was discovered in 2013: B. salamandrivorans, which mainly affects salamanders and also causes chytridiomycosis.
Which is the oldest recorded form of Batrachochytrium?
Among frogs, the oldest documented occurrence of Batrachochytrium is from a specimen of a Titicaca water frog collected in 1863, and among salamanders the oldest was a Japanese giant salamander collected in 1902. However, both these involved strains of the fungus that have not been implicated in mass-mortality events.