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大的脊椎动物扩展，因为真菌是导致许多两栖动物灭亡的原因。目前，168种两栖动物已灭绝，数量正在上升。这项研究将研究这种新出现的真菌病原体对热带青蛙物种的影响。尽管病原体迅速扩散，其感染通常是致命的，但某些物种，包括这项研究的重点，似乎具有抗性。研究人员将确定病原体对成年人，t the的生存和女性选择的亚致死作用。这项研究将通过表明这种疾病甚至对“抗性”物种所采取的损失来提高我们对野外新兴疾病的了解。这项研究将确定造型菌病是由chytrid fungus batrachochochytrium dendrobatidis（BD）如何影响青蛙的复制行为。几乎没有关注乳房菌病在抗性物种中的亚致死作用。感染BD的Túngara蛙种群缺乏任何明确的疾病迹象，使我们能够研究潜在的病原体压力如何影响生殖行为。第一个目的是了解宽度宽带Túngara青蛙中chytrid感染的基本流行病学。自2010年以来，研究人员每年都对Túngara青蛙种群中的BD进行了抽样，从西部巴拿马到大约1000公里的横断面。所有接受调查的人群目前都感染了BD。第二个目的是研究BD诱导的潜在病原体压力如何与性交流，伴侣选择，活力和生殖成功相互作用。为了评估对感染的反应和呼叫行为的反应之间的权衡，研究人员将分析男性在用BD进行实验性感染之前和之后的广告通话。研究人员将使用相同的调用进行女性Phonotaxis实验，以确定BD的男性感染是否会影响女性伴侣的选择，并确定是否存在对发育中感染和整体表现的反应成本。行为测试，协议详细信息和数据的视频将根据要求提供给其他研究人员，并在发布结果后公开使用。数据备份将牢固地存储在UT框中，在TACC计算机的Ryan Lab帐户以及外部硬盘驱动器中。随着数据的发布，它们将存放在Dryad存储库中。