Physiological responses of Brazilian amphibians to an enzootic infection of the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis

Autor(es)

Bovo, Rafael P. ^[1] ; Andrade, Denis V. ^[1] ; Toledo, Luis Felipe ^[2] ; Longo, Ana V. ^[3] ; Rodriguez, David ^[4] ; Haddad, Celio F. B. ^[1] ; Zamudio, Kelly R. ^[3] ; Guilherme Becker, C. ^[1]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Estadual Paulista, Dept Zool, Cp 199, BR-13506900 Rio Claro, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Estadual Campinas, Inst Biol, Dept Biol Anim, LaHNAB, Rua Monteiro Lobato 255, BR-13083862 Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[3] Cornell Univ, Dept Ecol & Evolutionary Biol, Ithaca, NY 14853 - USA

^[4] Texas State Univ, Dept Biol, San Marcos, TX 78666 - USA

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: DISEASES OF AQUATIC ORGANISMS; v. 117, n. 3, p. 245-252, JAN 13 2016.
• Citações Web of Science: 7

Resumo

Pathophysiological effects of clinical chytridiomycosis in amphibians include disorders of cutaneous osmoregulation and disruption of the ability to rehydrate, which can lead to decreased host fitness or mortality. Less attention has been given to physiological responses of hosts where enzootic infections of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) do not cause apparent population declines in the wild. Here, we experimentally tested whether an enzootic strain of Bd causes significant mortality and alters host water balance (evaporative water loss, EWL; skin resistance, R-s; and water uptake, WU) in individuals of 3 Brazilian amphibian species (Dendropsophus minutus, n = 19; Ischnocnema parva, n = 17; Brachycephalus pitanga, n = 15). Infections with enzootic Bd caused no significant mortality, but we found an increase in Rs in 1 host species concomitant with a reduction in EWL. These results suggest that enzootic Bd infections can indeed cause sub-lethal effects that could lead to reduction of host fitness in Brazilian frogs and that these effects vary among species. Thus, our findings underscore the need for further assessment of physiological responses to Bd infections in different host species, even in cases of sub-clinical chytridiomycosis and long-term enzootic infections in natural populations. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 10/05473-6 - Ecofisiologia de Bokermannohyla alvarengai (Bokermann 1956): uma espécie endêmica de campos rupestres
• Beneficiário: Denis Otavio Vieira de Andrade
• Linha de fomento: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Regular
• Processo FAPESP: 10/20061-6 - Fisiologia termal e balanço hídrico de anfíbios anuros em gradientes altitudinais da Floresta Atlântica
• Beneficiário: Rafael Parelli Bovo
• Linha de fomento: Bolsas no Brasil - Doutorado
• Processo FAPESP: 11/51694-7 - Into the heart of an epidemic: a US-Brazil collaboration for integrative studies of the amphibian-killing fungus in Brazil
• Beneficiário: Luis Felipe de Toledo Ramos Pereira
• Linha de fomento: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Regular
• Processo FAPESP: 13/04190-9 - Fisiologia termal e balanço de água em anfíbios anuros ao longo de um gradiente altitudinal da Floresta Atlântica
• Beneficiário: Denis Otavio Vieira de Andrade
• Linha de fomento: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Regular