Could Anti-Venom Treat a Deadly Fungus?

SUMMARY: Researchers will study whether anti-venom could be a protective treatment against chytrid infection.

THE PROBLEM: Amphibian chytridiomycosis is a fungal disease that has been killing frogs worldwide for decades. This disease is caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), which is one of the most destructive wildlife pathogens ever recorded. Bd is estimated to have caused extinction in at least 90 frog species, as well as severe decline in over 500 species. This decline in frog populations has greatly affected wildlife biodiversity globally. Bd is a particularly challenging pathogen to control, as it is an unusual fungus. Because Bd is unlike the usual bread mold, mushrooms, or yeast fungi, most anti-fungal treatments are not effective, and many of our research tools do not work. New strategies are desperately needed.

THE PROJECT: This project builds on previous studies of the genes that Bd uses while infecting frogs. We focused on snake venom-like toxins that may play a role in starting infection in frogs. The objectives of this work are to assess the role of these possible toxins in Bd infection and test the use of anti-venom as a protective treatment. This is a novel and innovative direction for research on this disease. This direction could lead to many new insights into how Bd initially infects amphibians, which would allow development of new treatments to help frogs fighting Bd. This work also includes developing several new tools for researchers to advance the study of this fungus and disease, without the use of live animals.

POTENTIAL IMPACT: In the future, the team hopes to extend their study to more genes with this system, including studies on the frog host genes for the factors that interact with the fungal pathogen, and play a role in whether Bd is able to infect a frog or not.