Agalychnis callidryas - a Panama native species
A recent article published on
sciencedaily.com discussed the growing populations of some Central American
frog species. These populations have been declining for over 40 years because of
the fungal disease Chytridiomycosis, and the disease is just as prevalent
today. However, recent studies show that these populations are on the rise, and
it could be because their defense to the pathogen is growing. According to the
article, the pathogen has moved in a predictable pattern, which made it
possible to gather samples from frogs who had already been exposed to the
pathogen and frogs that had not yet been exposed. The results of this research
showed that the frogs that had already been exposed to the disease were less
susceptible than the frogs that had never been exposed. The results from this
study are actually opposite of what was expected, the researchers expected the
pathogen to be less virulent. However, nothing has changed in regards to the
pathogen. The frogs defenses are just improving.
This research and the findings are extremely
important for future conservation efforts not only for Chytridiomycosis, but
also for other emerging infectious diseases that will have a major impact on
populations. Future research will study how the skin microbiomes and secretions
of frogs have changed to better defend against the pathogen. This information
will also be helpful for conservation efforts, as well as potentially being
used in a clinical setting to help against human diseases. A lot of current
research on amphibians studies this disease and ways to further bioaugmentation
efforts to stop the decline of populations and to maintain biodiversity. Hopefully,
these populations will continue to grow and have better defenses against this
deadly pathogen.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180411114118.htm
3 comments:
This article was a great find! It's impressive how the body's immune system can become better through evolution. It'd be interesting to see studies published on this same type of format but with other species and their response to common infectious disease that affect them.
Super interesting! I know that adaptation to the strong selective force of the chytrid epidemic has been hypothesized, but I wonder if its the frogs or their skin microbiome that is adapting - or maybe both. (Also Corey needs to see this article...)
This is so interesting, and the frog is adorable! It definitely would be interesting if scientists did some more research using other species to see how they respond to infectious diseases infecting them. I think this area of research is really important, especially in terms of conservation, because infectious diseases and microbes are included in the list of threats to amphibians globally, along with other threats such as habitat destruction, overexploitation, the pet trade, etc. Great post!
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