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      Population genetics of the frog-killing fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis.

      Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
      Animals, Anura, microbiology, California, Chytridiomycota, classification, genetics, isolation & purification, Female, Genetics, Population, Genotype, Male, Molecular Sequence Data, Mycoses, veterinary

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          Abstract

          Global amphibian decline by chytridiomycosis is a major environmental disaster that has been attributed to either recent fungal spread or environmental change that promotes disease. Here, we present a population genetic comparison of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis isolates from an intensively studied region of frog decline, the Sierra Nevada of California. In support of a novel pathogen, we find low diversity, no amphibian-host specificity, little correlation between fungal genotype and geography, local frog extirpation by a single fungal genotype, and evidence of human-assisted fungus migration. In support of endemism, at a local scale, we find some diverse, recombining populations. Therefore neither epidemic spread nor endemism alone explains this particular amphibian decline. Recombination raises the possibility of resistant sporangia and a mechanism for rapid spread as well as persistence that could greatly complicate global control of the pathogen.

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