Epidermal galactose spurs chytrid virulence and predicts amphibian colonization

Yu Wang (), Elin Verbrugghe, Leander Meuris, Koen Chiers, Moira Kelly, Diederik Strubbe, Nico Callewaert, Frank Pasmans and An Martel ()
Additional contact information
Yu Wang: Ghent University
Elin Verbrugghe: Ghent University
Leander Meuris: VIB-Ghent University
Koen Chiers: Ghent University
Moira Kelly: Ghent University
Diederik Strubbe: Ghent University
Nico Callewaert: VIB-Ghent University
Frank Pasmans: Ghent University
An Martel: Ghent University

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract The chytrid fungal pathogens Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans cause the skin disease chytridiomycosis in amphibians, which is driving a substantial proportion of an entire vertebrate class to extinction. Mitigation of its impact is largely unsuccessful and requires a thorough understanding of the mechanisms underpinning the disease ecology. By identifying skin factors that mediate key events during the early interaction with B. salamandrivorans zoospores, we discovered a marker for host colonization. Amphibian skin associated beta-galactose mediated fungal chemotaxis and adhesion to the skin and initiated a virulent fungal response. Fungal colonization correlated with the skin glycosylation pattern, with cutaneous galactose content effectively predicting variation in host susceptibility to fungal colonization between amphibian species. Ontogenetic galactose patterns correlated with low level and asymptomatic infections in salamander larvae that were carried over through metamorphosis, resulting in juvenile mortality. Pronounced variation of galactose content within some, but not all species, may promote the selection for more colonization resistant host lineages, opening new avenues for disease mitigation.

Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26127-9 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-26127-9

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-26127-9

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().