title: The novel 'Candidatus Amphibiichlamydia ranarum' is highly prevalent in invasive exotic bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeianus).
abstract: Knowledge concerning microbial infectious diseases in the current amphibian crisis is rudimentary and largely limited to ranavirosis and chytridiomycosis. The family Chlamydiaceae is gaining attention as a common cause of disease in amphibians and may harbour new and emerging amphibian pathogens. We identified a novel species of Chlamydiales (Candidatus Amphibiichlamydia ranarum) with a prevalence of 71% in exotic invasive bullfrog tadpoles (Lithobates catesbeianus) from an introduced population in the Netherlands. The sequence of a 1474 bp 16S rRNA gene fragment showed that the novel taxon forms a well-defined clade with 'Candidatus Amphibiichlamydia salamandrae' within the Chlamydiaceae family. Although none of the tadpoles examined showed signs of clinical disease, urgent evaluation of its pathogenic potential for native amphibian species is required.
authors.affiliation: Ghent University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Merelbeke, Belgium. an.martel@ugent.be
authors.forename: An
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martel
authors.forename: Connie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Adriaensen
authors.forename: Mojdeh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sharifian-Fard
authors.forename: Mado
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vandewoestyne
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Deforce
authors.forename: Herman
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Favoreel
authors.forename: Karolien
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bergen
authors.forename: Annemarieke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Spitzen-van der Sluijs
authors.forename: Sander
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Devisscher
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Adriaens
authors.forename: Gerald
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Louette
authors.forename: Kristof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Baert
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hyatt
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Crameri
authors.forename: Freddy
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Haesebrouck
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pasmans
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002693:Chlamydiaceae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D058865:Introduced Species; D007814:Larva / Q000382:microbiology; D009426:Netherlands; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D011892:Rana catesbeiana / Q000382:microbiology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S