Historical Evidence of Widespread Chytrid Infection in North American Amphibian Populations

Abstract:  Emerging infectious diseases may be contributing to the global decline of amphibian populations. In particular, chytridiomycosis, a cutaneous fungal infection of amphibians caused by the chytrid Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis , gained attention in the 1990s as an apparently new pathogen. This fungus has been implicated as the causative agent of widespread mortalities among wild amphibians in geographically disparate parts of the world. To investigate the global distribution, historical occurrence, and infectiousness of this pathogen, we examined 3371 postmetamorphic and adult amphibians collected between 1895 and 2001 from 25 countries for the presence of chytrid fungi in the epidermis. Cutaneous chytrid infection was diagnosed in 383 of 2931 (13.1%) specimens of 12 common amphibian species from five Canadian provinces and seven American states, including 30 of 69 locations examined in the St. Lawrence River Valley of Québec. Chytrids were observed in 7.0% (46/655) of the adults collected in the 1960s, the earliest cases being two green frogs (  Rana clamitans ) collected in 1961 from Saint-Pierre-de-Wakefield, Québec. In recent studies, morbidity and mortality attributable to chytridiomycosis were not observed in infected amphibians from Québec despite a 17.8% (302/1698) prevalence of chytrid infection during the period 1990–2001. The prevalence of infection during this latter period was not statistically different when compared with the period 1960–1969. Epidermal chytrid infections were not observed in 440 amphibians examined from 23 other countries. In light of the fact that infection by B. dendrobatidis is widely distributed and apparently enzootic in seemingly healthy amphibians from eastern North America, lethal outbreaks of chytridiomycosis among amphibian populations appear to have complex causes and may be the result of underlying predisposing factors.     

Ecology of Chytridiomycosis in Rainforest Stream Frog Assemblages of Tropical Queensland

Abstract:  In the wet tropics of Queensland, Australia, eight species of stream-dwelling frogs have experienced population declines. Some declines were associated with an emerging infectious disease of amphibians (chytridiomycosis) caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. We examined the spatial and temporal pattern of infection prevalence in a sample of frog populations. Infected adults and tadpoles of all species were found, and infections occurred at every site. Infection prevalence varied among species and was always < 10.0% in adults but ranged from 0.75 to 76.0% in tadpoles. In this system tadpoles and adults of some species may act as disease reservoirs, experiencing avirulent infections, whereas other hosts (declining species) experience virulent infections. Infection prevalence was higher during the cool, dry winter season (May to September) and at high elevations (600–800 m), suggesting regulation by environmental conditions, including temperature and precipitation. We found no relationships between infection prevalence and mean body condition, fluctuating asymmetry of hind limbs, population density, or the presence of metamorphosing tadpoles and juvenile frogs. Although it is not certain whether chytridiomycosis was responsible for past frog population declines in the wet tropics of Queensland, the pathogen is now endemic. Our data indicate that at the landscape level, environmental conditions have strong effects on host-pathogen dynamics. These effects interact with species-specific behavior or immune function and may be important underlying determinants of chytridiomycosis epizootics and emergence.     

A new approach to graphical and numerical analysis of links between plant chemotaxonomy and secondary metabolism from HPLC data smoothed by a simplex mixture design

Summary. HPLC analysis of secondary metabolites represents an efficient tool for the studying of plant chemical diversity under different aspects: chemotaxonomy, metabolomics, adaptative responses to ecological factors, etc. Statistical analyses of HPLC databases, e.g. correlation analysis between HPLC peaks, can reliably provide information on the similarity/dissimilarity degrees between the chemical compounds. The similarities, corresponding to positive correlations, can be interpreted in terms of analogies between chemical structures, synchronic metabolisms or co-evolution of two compounds under certain environment conditions, etc. . In terms of metabolism, positive correlations can translate precursor-product relationships between compounds; negative correlations can be indicative of competitive processes between two compounds for a common precursor(s), enzyme(s) or substrate(s). Furthermore, the correlation analysis under a metabolic aspect can help to understand the biochemical origins of an observed polymorphism in a plant species. With the aim of showing this, we present a new approach based on a simplex mixture design, Scheffé matrix, which provides a correlation network making it possible to graphically visualise and to numerically model the metabolic trends between HPLC peaks. The principle of the approach consisted in mixing individual HPLC profiles representative of different phenotypes, then from a complete mixture set, a series of average profiles were calculated to provide a new database with a small variability. Several iterations of the mixture design provided a smoothed final database from which the relationships between the secondary metabolites were graphically and numerically analysed. These relationships were scale-dependent, namely either deterministic or systematic: the first consisted of a monotonic global trend covering the whole variation field of each metabolites’ pair; the second consisted of repetitive monotonic variations which gradually attenuated or intensified along a global trend. This new metabolomic approach was illustrated from 404 individual plants of Astragalus caprinus (Leguminoseae), belonging to four chemical phenotypes (chemotypes) on the basis of flavonoids analysed in their leaves. After smoothing, the relationships between flavonoids were numerically fitted using linear or polynomial models; therefore the co-response coefficients were easily interpreted in terms of metabolic affinities or competitions between flavonoids which would be responsible of the observed chemical polymorphism (the four chemotypes). The statistical validation of the approach was carried out by comparing Pearson correlations to Spearman correlations calculated from the smoothed and the crude HPLC database, respectively. Moreover, the signs of the smoothed relationships were finely supported by analogies and differences between the chemical structures of flavonoids, leading to fluent interpretation in relation to the pathway architecture.     

Chemical endemic diseases and their impact on population in china

This paper deals with some endemic diseases related to selenium, iodine and fluoride in eco-environment. Keshan disease and Kaschin-Beck disease are associated with low selenium, they mainly occur in a belt zone across China ranging from North-East to South-West. Selenium contents in food grains and human hair from the disease affected areas are usually below 0.020ppm and 0.20ppm respectively. The endemic goitre caused by iodine deficiency distributes extensively in China, mainly in mountainous and hilly districts, swamp and peat areas, some sand soil and limestone areas. Also there is another kind of endemic goitre which caused by iodine excess in interior and coast areas. Endemic cretinism usually occurs in the endemic goitre seriously affected areas. Endemic fluorosis is also widely distributed in China, but mainly occurs in dry or semi-dry areas of north China. The fluoride sources for causing endemic fluorisis are drinking water and food grains polluted by coal smoke in the backing process of maize     

Redox potential E_H [Se(VI)/Se(IV)] of aqueous extractof soils from Yongshou Kaschin-Beck diseaseregion and the influence by humic acid

The relation between EH [Se(VI)/Se(IV)] and pH of soil aqueous extract in Kaschin-Beck disease region and the effects of natural redox agents, namely humic substances, MnO2 and Fe2+, on the redox property of the system were studied. The results indicated that both humic acid and Fe2+ could enhance the reducibility of Se(VI) and MnO2, a limited oxidizability for Se(IV). Fe2+ showed a weak reducibility only at low pH value. The reducibilities of three sulfur-containing compounds for Se(VI) were in following order:thioglycollic acid > L-cysteine > sulfide     

中国“硒与健康”数据库应用研究

由“硒与健康”数据库数据研究表明,中国26个省市人发含量量均值与长寿水平间存在着大致线性关系,相关系数达到0.71。135种常用食品含硒量与品种有关,鱼肉禽蛋>油料>豆类>粮食>蔬菜>水果。对克山病、大骨节病病区与非病区环境硒样品数据模式识别处理表明。环境硒水平不足是患病的根本原因之一,而主食大米与否不是本质原因。     

Prenatal diagnosis of Huntington's disease (HD): Experiences with six cases and PCR

In the course of a 2-year predictive testing programme for Huntington's disease (HD), six couples from a total of 52 applicants requested prenatal testing. In each case, the pregnancy was in the first or second trimester when the couples were referred for DNA diagnosis. In five cases, exclusion testing was offered; in one case, a person at risk with an increased risk of being a gene carrier requested prenatal diagnosis. In all cases, informative markers for prenatal testing could be determined. Whenever possible, the newer technique of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for D4S125 was applied to perform rapid prenatal diagnosis. Two couples withdrew before chorionic villus sampling was undertaken; prenatal diagnosis was completed in the remaining four cases. After exclusion testing, two pregnancies were determined to have an increased risk and two fetuses to have a low risk of being HD gene carriers.     

Minimizing air pollution exposure: A practical policy to protect vulnerable older adults from death and disability

Air pollution causes an estimated 200,000 deaths per year in the United States alone. Older adults are at greater risk of mortality caused by air pollution. Here we quantify the number of older adult facilities in Los Angeles County who are exposed to high levels of traffic derived air pollution, and propose policy solutions to reduce pollution exposure to this vulnerable subgroup. Distances between 20,362 intersections and 858 elder care facilities were estimated, and roads or highways within 500 of facilities were used to estimate traffic volume exposure. Of the 858 facilities, 54 were located near at least one major roadway, defined as a traffic volume over 100,000 cars per day. These 54 facilities house approximately 6000 older adults. Following standards established for schools, we recommend legislation mandating the placement of new elder care facilities a minimum of 500 ft from major roadways in order to reduce unnecessary mortality risk from pollution exposure.