| Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis | |
|---|---|
| |
| Zoosporangia of B. dendrobatidis growing on a freshwater arthropod (a) and algae (b); scale bars = 30 μm | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Chytridiomycota |
| Class: | Chytridiomycetes |
| Order: | Rhizophydiales |
| Family: | Batrachochytriaceae |
| Genus: | Batrachochytrium |
| Species: | B. dendrobatidis
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| Binomial name | |
| Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis Longcore, Pessier & D.K. Nichols (1999)
| |
Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (/bəˌtreɪkoʊˈkɪtriəm ˈdɛndroʊbətaɪdɪs/ bə-TRAY-koh-KIT-ree-əm DEN-droh-bə-ty-dis), also known as Bd or the amphibian chytrid fungus, is a fungus that causes the disease chytridiomycosis in amphibians.
Since its discovery in 1998 by Lee Berger,[1] the disease devastated amphibian populations around the world, in a global decline towards multiple extinctions, part of the Holocene extinction. A recently described second species, B. salamandrivorans, also causes chytridiomycosis and death in salamanders.
The fungal pathogens that cause the disease chytridiomycosis are known to damage the skin of frogs, toads, and other amphibians, disrupting their balance of water and salt and eventually causing heart failure, Nature reports.[2] Some amphibian species appear to have an innate capacity to withstand chytridiomycosis infection due to symbiosis with Janthinobacterium lividum.[citation needed] Even within species that generally succumb, some populations survive, possibly demonstrating that these traits or alleles of species are being subjected to evolutionary selection.
- ^ Berger L, Speare R, Daszak P, Green DE, Cunningham AA, Goggin CL, Slocombe R, Ragan MA, Hyatt AD, McDonald KR, Hines HB, Lips KR, Marantelli G, Parkes H (July 1998). "Chytridiomycosis causes amphibian mortality associated with population declines in the rain forests of Australia and Central America". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 95 (15): 9031–6. Bibcode:1998PNAS...95.9031B. doi:10.1073/pnas.95.15.9031. PMC 21197. PMID 9671799.
- ^ Rosa, Ines Di; Simoncelli, Francesca; Fagotti, Anna; Pascolini, Rita (May 2007). "The proximate cause of frog declines?". Nature. 447 (7144): E4–E5. Bibcode:2007Natur.447....4R. doi:10.1038/nature05941. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 17538572.