Chytridiomycosis (/kaɪˌtrɪdiəmaɪˈkoʊsɪs/ ky-TRID-ee-ə-my-KOH-sis) is an infectious disease in amphibians, caused by the chytrid fungi Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans. Chytridiomycosis has been linked to dramatic population declines or extinctions of amphibian species in western North America, Central America, South America, eastern Australia, east Africa (Tanzania), and Dominica and Montserrat in the Caribbean. Much of the New World is also at risk of the disease arriving within the coming years. The fungus is capable of causing sporadic deaths in some amphibian populations and 100% mortality in others. No effective measure is known for control of the disease in wild populations. Various clinical signs are seen by individuals affected by the disease. A number of options are possible for controlling this disease-causing fungus, though none has proved to be feasible on a large scale. The disease has been proposed as a contributing factor to a global decline in amphibian populations that apparently has affected about 30% of the amphibian species of the world. Some research found evidence insufficient for linking chytrid fungi and chytridiomycosis to global amphibian declines, but more recent research establishes a connection and attributes the spread of the disease to its transmission through international trade routes into native ecosystems.
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👉 Chytridiomycosis in the context of Chytridiomycota
Chytridiomycota are a division of zoosporic organisms in the kingdom Fungi, informally known as chytrids. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek χυτρίδιον (khutrídion), meaning "little pot", describing the structure containing unreleased zoospores. Chytrids are one of the earliest diverging fungal lineages, and their membership in kingdom Fungi is demonstrated with chitin cell walls, a posterior whiplash flagellum, absorptive nutrition, use of glycogen as an energy storage compound, and synthesis of lysine by the α-amino adipic acid (AAA) pathway.
Chytrids are saprobic, degrading refractory materials such as chitin and keratin, and sometimes act as parasites. There has been a significant increase in the research of chytrids since the discovery of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, the causal agent of chytridiomycosis.
Chytridiomycosis in the context of 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.
Since its discovery in 1998 by Lee Berger and species description in 1999 by Joyce E. Longcore, the disease devastated amphibian populations around the world, in a global decline towards multiple extinctions, part of the Holocene extinction. A recently described second species, B. salamandrivorans, also causes chytridiomycosis and death in salamanders.
Chytridiomycosis in the context of Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans
Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) is a pathogenic chytrid fungus that infects amphibian species. Although salamanders and newts seem to be the most susceptible, some anuran species are also affected. Bsal has emerged recently and poses a major threat to species in Europe and North America.
It was described in 2013 based on a strain collected from skin tissue of fire salamanders Salamandra salamandra. The pathogen, unidentified up to then, had devastated fire salamander populations in the Netherlands. Molecular phylogenetics confirmed it as related to the well known chytrid B. dendrobatidis. Like this species, it causes chytridiomycosis, which is manifested in skin lesions and is lethal for the salamanders. Damage to the epidermal layer can be extensive and may result in osmoregulatory issues or sepsis.