Characteristics of monolayer formation in vitro by the chytrid Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis

Silva, Shalika; Matz, Lisa M.; Elmassry, Moamen M.; Francisco, Michael J. San

doi:10.1016/j.bioflm.2019.100009

Cited by 4 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Chytridiomycosis threatens amphibian populations worldwide, however, disease risk varies greatly depending on a myriad of factors, including Bd lineage (12,13,16,24). While several studies have characterized the infection response of different amphibian species (21,(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35), our work contributes to identify Bd's functional machinery driving invasion and disease dynamics in a wide amphibian host range. In this study, we provide a framework to integrate available transcriptome data to further explore pathogen functional genomics during host-pathogen interactions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Infected amphibian skin and in culture transcriptome data. We selected RNA-Seq data from Bd in culture studies (21,22,31,33) and amphibian infection trials (21,22,(28)(29)(30)32,(34)(35)(36)(37) and generated new infection transcriptome data for two amphibian species (see Table S1 for NCBI Short Read Archive accession codes and further information about transcriptome files). Data selection was made based on sequencing strategy (Illumina sequencing technology), experiment day, sequencing coverage, and number of biological replicates.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We annotated the upregulated genes (adjust p-value <= 0.05 and one or more than one positive unit of logarithmic fold expression change; log2FoldChange >= 1) against Uniprot (58) and Pfam (59) databases using BLAST 2.9.0 (60) and Hmmer 3.2.1 (61), respectively, and recovered GO and protein class information using retrieve/ID mapping of the Uniprot and Panther webtool (62), respectively. Additionally, we classified the upregulated genes in Bd sporangia or zoospore genes by following previously published differential gene expression analyses (31) between sporangia samples (SRR10389434, SRR10389435, SRR10389436) and zoospore samples (SRR10389437, SRR10389438, SRR10389439). To investigate the association between life-stage related genes and host susceptibility category, we compared the number of upregulated genes per susceptibility category that were annotated as sporangia genes using Pearson’s chi-square test and calculated Cramér’s V using the R package rcompanion (63).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To understand Bd pathogenicity and evolution, several studies have explored its population dynamics (25,26), genetic diversity and innovations (12,(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)27), and gene expression of both Bd and amphibian hosts (21,22,(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35). The scope of these studies has been limited to genomic comparisons with few species of the phylum Chytridiomycota (17,21), whereas Bd functional machinery has been examined to understand host exploitation only in two species with similar infection outcomes (22).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Here, we leverage publicly available transcriptomic datasets (21,22,(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35) and new data from experimental infection challenges (36,37) to investigate Bd's functional machinery across 14 different hosts species in comparison to its expression in culture samples (21,22,31,33). All the animals used in the different studies were experimentally infected with a BdGPL isolate, and most individuals were captive-bred or Bd-naïve to the strain used in the experimental trials (information about Bd isolates available in Table S1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Panzootic chytrid fungus exploits diverse amphibian host environments through plastic infection strategies

Torres‐Sánchez

Villate

McGrath-Blaser

et al. 2021

Preprint

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While many pathogens are limited to a single host, others can jump from host to host, which likely contributes to the emergence of infectious diseases. Despite this threat to biodiversity, traits associated with overcoming eco-evolutionary barriers to achieve host niche expansions are not well understood. Here, we examined the case of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), a multi-host pathogen that infects the skin of hundreds of amphibian species worldwide. To uncover functional machinery driving multi-host invasion, we analyzed Bd transcriptomic landscapes across 14 amphibian hosts and inferred the origin and evolutionary history of pathogenic genes under a phylogenetic framework comprising 12 other early-divergent zoosporic fungi. Our results not only revealed a conserved basal genetic machinery, but also highlighted the ability of Bd to display plastic infection strategies when challenged under suboptimal host environments. We found that genes related to amphibian skin exploitation have arisen mainly via gene duplications. We argue that plastic gene expression can drive variation in Bd lifecycles with different mode and tempo of development. Our findings support the idea that host skin environments exert contrasting selective pressures, such that gene expression plasticity constitutes one of the evolutionary keys leading to the success of this panzootic multi-host pathogen.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Panzootic chytrid fungus exploits diverse amphibian host environments through plastic infection strategies

Torres‐Sánchez

Villate

McGrath-Blaser

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Panzootic chytrid fungus exploits diverse amphibian host environments through plastic infection strategies

et al. 2022

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While some pathogens are limited to single species, others can colonize many hosts, likely contributing to the emergence of novel disease outbreaks. Despite this biodiversity threat, traits associated with host niche expansions are not well understood in multihost pathogens. Here, we aimed to uncover functional machinery driving multihost invasion by focusing on Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), a pathogen that infects the skin of hundreds of amphibians worldwide. We performed a meta‐analysis of Bd gene expression using data from published infection experiments and newly generated profiles. We analysed Bd transcriptomic landscapes across the skin of 14 host species, reconstructed Bd isolates phylogenetic relationships, and inferred the origin and evolutionary history of differentially expressed genes under a phylogenetic framework comprising other 12 zoosporic fungi. Bd displayed plastic infection strategies when challenged by hosts with different disease susceptibility. Our analyses identified sets of differentially expressed genes under host environments with similar infection outcome. We stressed nutritional immunity and gene silencing as important processes required to overcome challenging skin environments in less susceptible hosts. Overall, Bd genes expressed during amphibian skin exploitation have arisen mainly via gene duplications with great family expansions, increasing the gene copy events previously described for this fungal species. Finally, we provide a comprehensive gene data set that can be used to further examine eco‐evolutionary hypotheses for this host‐pathogen system. Our study supports the idea that host environments exert contrasting selective pressures, such that gene expression plasticity could be one of the evolutionary keys leading to the success of multihost pathogens.

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Frequency‐dependent transmission of Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans in eastern newts

Tompros

Dean

Fenton

et al. 2021

Transbounding Emerging Dis

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Transmission is the fundamental process whereby pathogens infect their hosts and spread through populations, and can be characterized using mathematical functions. The functional form of transmission for emerging pathogens can determine pathogen impacts on host populations and can inform the efficacy of disease management strategies. By directly measuring transmission between infected and susceptible adult eastern newts (Notophthalmus viridescens) in aquatic mesocosms, we identified the most plausible transmission function for the emerging amphibian fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal). Although we considered a range of possible transmission functions, we found that Bsal transmission was best explained by pure frequency dependence. We observed that >90% of susceptible newts became infected within 17 days post‐exposure to an infected newt across a range of host densities and initial infection prevalence treatments. Under these conditions, we estimated R0 = 4.9 for Bsal in an eastern newt population. Our results suggest that Bsal has the capability of driving eastern newt populations to extinction and that managing host density may not be an effective management strategy. Intervention strategies that prevent Bsal introduction or increase host resistance or tolerance to infection may be more effective. Our results add to the growing empirical evidence that transmission of wildlife pathogens can saturate and be functionally frequency‐dependent.

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Characteristics of monolayer formation in vitro by the chytrid Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis

Cited by 4 publications

References 62 publications

Panzootic chytrid fungus exploits diverse amphibian host environments through plastic infection strategies

Panzootic chytrid fungus exploits diverse amphibian host environments through plastic infection strategies

Panzootic chytrid fungus exploits diverse amphibian host environments through plastic infection strategies

Frequency‐dependent transmission of Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans in eastern newts

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