Chytrid Fungi and Global Amphibian Declines

Overview

Journal Nat Rev Microbiol

Specialties Infectious Diseases
Microbiology

Date 2020 Feb 27

PMID 32099078

Citations 83

Authors

Matthew C Fisher

Trenton W J Garner

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Discovering that chytrid fungi cause chytridiomycosis in amphibians represented a paradigm shift in our understanding of how emerging infectious diseases contribute to global patterns of biodiversity loss. In this Review we describe how the use of multidisciplinary biological approaches has been essential to pinpointing the origins of amphibian-parasitizing chytrid fungi, including Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans, as well as to timing their emergence, tracking their cycles of expansion and identifying the core mechanisms that underpin their pathogenicity. We discuss the development of the experimental methods and bioinformatics toolkits that have provided a fuller understanding of batrachochytrid biology and informed policy and control measures.

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