title: Experimental evidence for American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) susceptibility to chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis).
abstract: The emerging fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), has been associated with global amphibian population declines and extinctions. American bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeianus) are widely reported to be a tolerant host and a carrier of Bd that spreads the pathogen to less tolerant hosts. Here, we examined whether bullfrogs raised from eggs to metamorphosis in outdoor mesocosms were susceptible to Bd. We experimentally exposed metamorphic juveniles to Bd in the laboratory and compared mortality rates of pathogen-exposed animals to controls (non-exposed) in two separate experiments; one using a Bd strain isolated from a Western toad and another using a strain isolated from an American bullfrog. We wanted to examine whether metamorphic bullfrogs were susceptible to either of these strains. We show that bullfrogs were susceptible to one strain of Bd and not the other. In both experiments, infection load detected in the skin decreased over time, suggesting that metamorphic bullfrogs from some populations may be inefficient long-term carriers of Bd.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA. gervasis@science.oregonstate.edu
authors.forename: Stephanie S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Gervasi
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Urbina
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hua
authors.forename: Tara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chestnut
authors.forename: Rick
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: A Relyea
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: R Blaustein
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D008411:Chytridiomycota / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000382:microbiology*; D004198:Disease Susceptibility / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011892:Rana catesbeiana / Q000382:microbiology*; D014481:United States
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