The emerging amphibian pathogen <i>Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis</i> globally infects introduced populations of the North American bullfrog, <i>Rana catesbeiana</i>

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  • Trenton W.J Garner
    Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of LondonRegent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK
  • Matthew W Perkins
    Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of LondonRegent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK
  • Purnima Govindarajulu
    Department of Biology, University of VictoriaPO Box 3020, Station CSC, Victoria, British Columbia V8W 3N5, Canada
  • Daniele Seglie
    Department of Human and Animal Biology, University of TorinoVia Accademia Albertina 13, 10123 Torino, Italy
  • Susan Walker
    Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of LondonRegent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK
  • Andrew A Cunningham
    Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of LondonRegent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK
  • Matthew C Fisher
    Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial CollegeSt Mary's Hospital, Norfolk Place, London W2 1PG, UK

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Description

<jats:p> <jats:italic>Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis</jats:italic> is the chytridiomycete fungus which has been implicated in global amphibian declines and numerous species extinctions. Here, we show that introduced North American bullfrogs ( <jats:italic>Rana catesbeiana</jats:italic> ) consistently carry this emerging pathogenic fungus. We detected infections by this fungus on introduced bullfrogs from seven of eight countries using both PCR and microscopic techniques. Only native bullfrogs from eastern Canada and introduced bullfrogs from Japan showed no sign of infection. The bullfrog is the most commonly farmed amphibian, and escapes and subsequent establishment of feral populations regularly occur. These factors taken together with our study suggest that the global threat of <jats:italic>B. dendrobatidis</jats:italic> disease transmission posed by bullfrogs is significant. </jats:p>

Journal

  • Biology Letters

    Biology Letters 2 (3), 455-459, 2006-05-24

    The Royal Society

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