title: Survey of Pathogenic Chytrid Fungi (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and B. salamandrivorans) in Salamanders from Three Mountain Ranges in Europe and the Americas.
abstract: Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) is a virulent fungal pathogen that infects salamanders. It is implicated in the recent collapse of several populations of fire salamanders in Europe. This pathogen seems much like that of its sister species, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), the agent responsible for anuran extinctions and extirpations worldwide, and is considered to be an emerging global threat to salamander communities. Bsal thrives at temperatures found in many mountainous regions rich in salamander species; because of this, we have screened specimens of salamanders representing 17 species inhabiting mountain ranges in three continents: The Smoky Mountains, the Swiss Alps, and the Peruvian Andes. We screened 509 salamanders, with 192 representing New World salamanders that were never tested for Bsal previously. Bsal was not detected, and Bd was mostly present at low prevalence except for one site in the Andes.
authors.affiliation: Zoology Department, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 1125 Lincoln drive, Carbondale, IL, 62901, USA. JP175@siu.edu.
authors.forename: Joshua Curtis
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Parrott
authors.affiliation: Zoology Department, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 1125 Lincoln drive, Carbondale, IL, 62901, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shepack
authors.affiliation: Zoology Department, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 1125 Lincoln drive, Carbondale, IL, 62901, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Burkart
authors.affiliation: Zoology Department, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 1125 Lincoln drive, Carbondale, IL, 62901, USA.|University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Brandon
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: LaBumbard
authors.affiliation: , Via Maestra 3, 6930, Bedano, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Scimè
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, 427 E Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ, 85281, USA.
authors.forename: Ethan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Baruch
authors.affiliation: Zoology Department, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 1125 Lincoln drive, Carbondale, IL, 62901, USA.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Catenazzi
mesh_terms: D000569:Americas; D000818:Animals; D008411:Chytridiomycota / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005060:Europe; D009181:Mycoses / Q000662:veterinary*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014562:Caudata / Q000382:microbiology*
keywords: Alps; Amphibians; Andes; Appalachia; Caudata; Conservation; Plethodontidae; Salamandridae; Wildlife disease