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Widespread infection of the Eastern red-spotted newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) by a new species of Amphibiocystidium, a genus of fungus-like mesomycetozoan parasites not previously reported in North America

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 October 2007

T. R. RAFFEL ,
T. BOMMARITO ,
D. S. BARRY ,
S. M. WITIAK  and
L. A. SHACKELTON
T. R. RAFFEL*
Affiliation:
Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Biology Department, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA Department of Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
T. BOMMARITO
Affiliation:
Cooperative Wildlife Research Lab, Department of Zoology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA
D. S. BARRY
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Marshall University, Huntington, WV 25755, USA
S. M. WITIAK
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Pathology, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
L. A. SHACKELTON
Affiliation:
Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Biology Department, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
*
*Corresponding author: 4202 E. Fowler Avenue, SCA 110, Tampa, Florida33620, USA. Tel: +813 974 6210. Fax: +813 974 3263. E-mail: traffel@cas.usf.edu
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Summary

Given the worldwide decline of amphibian populations due to emerging infectious diseases, it is imperative that we identify and address the causative agents. Many of the pathogens recently implicated in amphibian mortality and morbidity have been fungal or members of a poorly understood group of fungus-like protists, the mesomycetozoans. One mesomycetozoan, Amphibiocystidium ranae, is known to infect several European amphibian species and was associated with a recent decline of frogs in Italy. Here we present the first report of an Amphibiocystidium sp. in a North American amphibian, the Eastern red-spotted newt (Notophthalmus viridescens), and characterize it as the new species A. viridescens in the order Dermocystida based on morphological, geographical and phylogenetic evidence. We also describe the widespread and seasonal distribution of this parasite in red-spotted newt populations and provide evidence of mortality due to infection.

Keywords

DermocystidaDermocystidiumAmphibiothecumamphibian declinesalamanderfungal infection
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 135 , Issue 2 , February 2008 , pp. 203 - 215
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

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