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Xenopus laevis and Emerging Amphibian Pathogens in Chile

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Abstract

Amphibians face an extinction crisis with no precedence. Two emerging infectious diseases, ranaviral disease caused by viruses within the genus Ranavirus and chytridiomycosis due to Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), have been linked with amphibian mass mortalities and population declines in many regions of the globe. The African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis) has been indicated as a vector for the spread of these pathogens. Since the 1970s, this species has been invasive in central Chile. We collected X. laevis and dead native amphibians in Chile between 2011 and 2013. We conducted post-mortem examinations and molecular tests for Ranavirus and Bd. Eight of 187 individuals (4.3 %) tested positive for Ranavirus: seven X. laevis and a giant Chilean frog (Calyptocephallela gayi). All positive cases were from the original area of X. laevis invasion. Bd was found to be more prevalent (14.4 %) and widespread than Ranavirus, and all X. laevis Bd-positive animals presented low to moderate levels of infection. Sequencing of a partial Ranavirus gene revealed 100 % sequence identity with Frog Virus 3. This is the first report of Ranavirus in Chile, and these preliminary results are consistent with a role for X. laevis as an infection reservoir for both Ranavirus and Bd.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) EDGE Fellowship Programme; the Dirección General de Investigación y Doctorado, Universidad Andrés Bello (DI-526-14/R), NERC standard Grant NE/M000338/1, NE/M00080X/1, NE/M000591/1, and the Chilean National Science and Technology Fund (FONDECYT iniciación N° 11140902).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Centro de Investigación Para la Sustentabilidad, Universidad Andres Bello, Republica 440, Santiago, Chile

    Claudio Soto-Azat, Alexandra Peñafiel-Ricaurte, Nicole Sallaberry-Pincheira, María Pía García & Mario Alvarado-Rybak

  2. UCL Genetics Institute, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

    Stephen J. Price

  3. Molecular Virology Laboratory, Fundación Ciencia & Vida, Av. Zañartu 1482, Ñuñoa, Chile

    María Pía García

  4. Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent’s Park, London, NW1 4RY, UK

    Stephen J. Price & Andrew A. Cunningham

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  1. Claudio Soto-Azat
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Correspondence to Claudio Soto-Azat.

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All applicable institutional and/or national guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. Collection of wild amphibians was approved under the permits of the Chilean Agriculture and Livestock Service (Nº7993/2010, 300/2012, 5666/2013) and the Universidad Andres Bello Bioethical Committee (1939/2012 and 19/2013), and followed the Bioethic Guidelines of the Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnologica de Chile (CONICYT 2009).

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Soto-Azat, C., Peñafiel-Ricaurte, A., Price, S.J. et al. Xenopus laevis and Emerging Amphibian Pathogens in Chile. EcoHealth 13, 775–783 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-016-1186-9

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