Pathogenic fungus in feral populations of the invasive North American bullfrog in Argentina

GHIRARDI, ROMINA; LÓPEZ, JAVIER ALEJANDRO; SANABRIA, EDUARDO ALFREDO; QUIROGA, LORENA BEATRÍZ; LEVY, MICHAEL G.

BELGIAN JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY

SOC ROYALE ZOOLOGIQUE BELGIQUE

Lugar: Bruselas; Año: 2017 vol. 147 p. 81 - 86

0777-6276

Nearly a third (32.4%) of the world?s amphibian species are either threatened with extinction or already extinct. The chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) (Chytridiomycetes: Ryzophydiales) has been recognized as responsible for mass mortalities or population extinctions of numerous anuran species in different continents. There is evidence that legal and illegal trade in amphibians as pets, food (as Lithobates catesbeianus) and for bio-control is one of the reasons for the spread of Bd. We sampled bullfrogs from three feral populations in permanent water bodies in the Argentinean western highlands. Laboratory detection and quantification of infection with Bd were performed at the Laboratory of Vector Borne Disease Diagnostics from North Carolina State Universitys` School of Veterinary Medicine, using Bd-specific real-time Taqman quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). We examined 103 individuals of which 12 tested positive for Bd. The cycle threshold was 38.24±3.42. All infected bullfrogs belonged to only one of the three sampled localities (12 Bd-positive from 82 individuals sampled at Puchuzúm) . When collected, frogs showed no evident signs of chytridiomycosis to the naked eye. No unusual sloughing of the skin or sliminess was observed in any individual swabbed, nor were any dead individuals recorded during the course of this study.