Abstract
Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (hereafter Batrachochytrium), a fungal pathogen of amphibians, causes the disease chytridiomycosis which is responsible for unprecedented population declines and extinctions globally. Host defenses against chytridiomycosis include cutaneous symbiotic bacteria and anti-microbial peptides, and proposed treatment measures include use of fungicides and bioaugmentation. Efforts to eradicate the fungus from localized areas of disease outbreak have not been successful. Instead, control measures to mitigate the impacts of the disease on host populations, many of which are already persisting with Batrachochytrium in an endemic state, may be more realistic. The infective stage of the fungus is an aquatic zoospore, 3–5 μm in diameter. Here we show that zoospores of Batrachochytrium are consumed by the zooplankter Daphnia magna. This species inhabits amphibian breeding sites where Batrachochytrium transmission occurs, and consumption of Batrachochytrium zoospores may lead to effective biological control of Batrachochytrium.
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Acknowledgments
We acknowledge the Tanguay, Spatafora, and Taylor laboratories of Oregon State University for use of space and equipment, and especially B. Taylor for assistance. This material is based upon work supported under a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to J.C.B. Additional funding was provided by NSF (DEB0213851 and IBN9977063).
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An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10531-011-0163-4
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Buck, J.C., Truong, L. & Blaustein, A.R. Predation by zooplankton on Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis: biological control of the deadly amphibian chytrid fungus?. Biodivers Conserv 20, 3549–3553 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-011-0147-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-011-0147-4