DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Non-lethal Effects of Chytridiomycosis on the Reproductive Behavior of Tungara Frogs

论文研究：壶菌病对 Tungara 青蛙繁殖行为的非致命影响

• 批准号: 1501653
• 负责人: Michael Ryan
• 金额: $ 1.99万
• 依托单位: University of Texas at Austin
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-08-15 至 2017-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1501653&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Non; lethal; Effects

The world is experiencing the greatest vertebrate extinction in human history, because a fungus is responsible for the demise of many amphibian species. Currently, 168 amphibian species are extinct, and the number is rising. This study will investigate the effect of this emergent fungal pathogen on a tropical frog species. Although the pathogen is rapidly spreading and its infections are usually lethal, some species, including the focus of this study, appear to be resistant. The researchers will determine the sub-lethal effects of the pathogen on adults, tadpole survivorship, and female mate choice. This study will advance our knowledge of emergent diseases in the wild by showing the toll that such diseases take even on "resistant" species.This study will determine how chytridiomycosis, an emergent infectious disease caused by the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), influences the reproductive behavior of frogs. Little attention has been given to sub-lethal effects of chytridiomycosis in resistant species. Túngara frog populations infected with Bd lack any clear signs of the disease, allowing us to examine how the potential pathogen-stress influences reproductive behavior. The first aim is to understand the basic epidemiology of chytrid infections in the widespread tropical Túngara frog. Since 2010, the researchers have sampled annually for the presence of Bd in populations of Túngara frogs from western Panama to the Darien Gap, an approximately 1000 km transect. All populations surveyed are currently infected with Bd. The second aim is to examine how the potential pathogen-stress induced by Bd interact with sexual communication, mate choice, vigor, and reproductive success. To assess if there is a trade-off between the response to the infection and calling behavior, the researchers will analyze males' advertisement calls before and after experimental infection with Bd. The researchers will perform female phonotaxis experiments with these same calls to determine if male infection with Bd influences female mate choice, and determine if there is a cost of the response to the infection in development and overall performance. Videos of behavioral tests, protocol details and data will be available to other researchers upon request, and will be publicly available after publication of results. Data back-ups will be securely stored in UT Box, at the Ryan Lab account in the TACC computer, and in external hard drives. As data are published they will be deposited in the DRYAD repository.

世界正在经历人类历史上最严重的脊椎动物灭绝，因为一种真菌导致了许多两栖动物物种的灭绝。目前，已有 168 种两栖动物物种灭绝，而且数量还在不断增加。这项研究将调查这种新出现的真菌病原体的影响。尽管病原体正在迅速传播并且其感染通常是致命的，但包括本研究的重点在内的一些物种似乎具有抵抗力，研究人员将确定病原体对青蛙的亚致死影响。成虫、蝌蚪存活率和雌性配偶选择这项研究将通过展示此类疾病对“抗性”物种造成的损失来增进我们对野外突发疾病的了解。这项研究将确定壶菌病（一种突发传染病）是如何引起的。壶菌（Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis）（Bd）影响青蛙的繁殖行为，但很少有人关注壶菌病的亚致死效应。感染 Bd 的 Túngara 青蛙种群没有任何明显的疾病迹象，这使我们能够研究潜在的病原体应激如何影响繁殖行为。第一个目标是了解广泛分布的热带 Túngara 青蛙壶菌感染的基本流行病学。自 2010 年以来，研究人员每年对从巴拿马西部到 Darien Gap（大约 1000 公里长的横断面）的 Túngara 青蛙种群中是否存在 Bd 进行采样。接受调查的 Bd 感染者的第二个目的是研究 Bd 引起的潜在病原体应激如何与性交流、配偶选择、活力和繁殖成功率相互作用，以评估对 Bd 的反应之间是否存在权衡。研究人员将分析雄性 Bd 感染前后的广告叫声。研究人员将用这些相同的叫声进行雌性趋声实验，以确定雄性 Bd 感染是否影响雌性择偶，并确定是否存在这种影响。响应的成本行为测试、协议细节和数据的视频将根据要求提供给其他研究人员，并将在结果发布后公开提供，数据备份将安全地存储在瑞安的 UT Box 中。 TACC 计算机和外部硬盘中的实验室帐户随着数据的发布，它们将存储在 DRYAD 存储库中。