Population genetics of the frog-killing fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidisTools Morgan, J.A.T. and Vredenburg, V.T. and Rachowicz, L.J. and Knapp, R.A. and Stice, M.J. and Tunstall, T. and Bingham, R.E. and Parker, J.M. and Longcore, J.E. and Moritz, C. and Briggs, C.J. and Taylor, J.W. (2007) Population genetics of the frog-killing fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 104 (34). pp. 13845-13850. Full text not currently attached. Access may be available via the Publisher's website or OpenAccess link. Article Link(s): http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0701838104 Publisher URL: http://www.nasonline.org AbstractGlobal amphibian decline by chytridiomycosis is a major environmental disaster that has been attributed to either recent fungal spread or environmental change that promotes disease. Here, we present a population genetic comparison of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis isolates from an intensively studied region of frog decline, the Sierra Nevada of California. In support of a novel pathogen, we find low diversity, no amphibian-host specificity, little correlation between fungal genotype and geography, local frog extirpation by a single fungal genotype, and evidence of human-assisted fungus migration. In support of endemism, at a local scale, we find some diverse, recombining populations. Therefore neither epidemic spread nor endemism alone explains this particular amphibian decline. Recombination raises the possibility of resistant sporangia and a mechanism for rapid spread as well as persistence that could greatly complicate global control of the pathogen.
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