Date: March 12, 2018
Source: Washington State University
Summary:
Environmental DNA is a new
technology that detects telltale bits of genetic material that living creatures
shed into their environment. Scientists demonstrate for the first time that it
can be used to detect the presence of a deadly pathogen before it wipes out
populations of amphibians.
New technology being developed at
Washington State University could help save amphibians around the world from a
deadly fungal pathogen.
Batrachochytrium
dendrobatidis or Bd is a particularly nasty type of fungus
that attacks the skin of frogs and salamanders.
Over the past 30 years, the
highly lethal pathogen has caused the catastrophic decline or extinction of at
least 200 species of frogs on six different continents and has been implicated
in the unexplained disappearance of Central American salamanders as well.
One of the major challenges in
preventing the spread of Bd is the lack of an effective method to predict where
outbreaks may occur.
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