| persistence with chytridiomycosis does not assure survival of direct-developing frogs. | the chytrid fungus, batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (bd) has been linked to extinction and decline of numerous amphibians. we studied the population-level effects of bd in two post-decline anuran species, eleutherodactylus coqui and e. portoricensis, at el yunque national forest, puerto rico. data on amphibian abundance was updated to report long-term population trends. mark-recapture data was used to monitor bd-infection status and estimate survival probabilities of infected versus uninfected ad ... | 2010 | 20585971 |
| seasonality of batrachochytrium dendrobatidis infection in direct-developing frogs suggests a mechanism for persistence. | batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (bd), a disease-causing amphibian-specific fungus, is widely distributed in puerto rico, but is restricted to elevations above 600 m. the effect of this pathogen in the wild was studied by monitoring eleutherodactylus coqui and e. portoricensis in 2 upland forests at el yunque, a site characterized by historic population declines in the presence of chytridiomycosis. we tested a potential synergistic interaction between climate and bd by measuring prevalence of infe ... | 2010 | 21268989 |
| coqui frogs persist with the deadly chytrid fungus despite a lack of defensive antimicrobial peptides. | the amphibian skin fungus batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (bd) occurs widely in puerto rico and is thought to be responsible for the apparent extinction of 3 species of endemic frogs in the genus eleutherodactylus, known as coquis. to examine immune defenses which may protect surviving species, we induced secretion of skin peptides from adult common coqui frogs e. coqui collected from upland forests at el yunque. by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (maldi-tof) mass spect ... | 2015 | 25667340 |
| lability in host defenses: terrestrial frogs die from chytridiomycosis under enzootic conditions. | chytridiomycosis-induced mortalities often occur upon the emergence of batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (bd) in naïve amphibian populations. we report chytridiomycosis-associated mortalities in the wild of the coqui (eleutherodactylus coqui), a declining direct-developing frog with persistent bd infections. these findings provide additional evidence of decreased host defenses during cool-dry seasons in puerto rico. | 2013 | 23307390 |
| temperature variation, bacterial diversity and fungal infection dynamics in the amphibian skin. | host-associated bacterial communities on the skin act as the first line of defence against invading pathogens. yet, for most natural systems, we lack a clear understanding of how temperature variability affects structure and composition of skin bacterial communities and, in turn, promotes or limits the colonization of opportunistic pathogens. here, we examine how natural temperature fluctuations might be related to changes in skin bacterial diversity over time in three amphibian populations infe ... | 2017 | 28664981 |