Ultraviolet radiation, toxic chemicals and amphibian population declines

Abstract. As part of an overall ‘biodiversity crisis’, many amphibian populations are in decline throughout the world. Numerous factors have contributed to these declines, including habitat destruction, pathogens, increasing ultraviolet (UV) radiation, introduced non‐native species and contaminants. In this paper we review the contribution of increasing UV radiation and environmental contamination to the global decline of amphibian populations. Both UV radiation and environmental contaminants can affect amphibians at all life stages. Exposure to UV radiation and to certain contaminants can kill amphibians and induce sublethal affects in embryos, larvae and adults. Moreover, UV radiation and contaminants may interact with one another synergistically. Synergistic interactions of UV radiation with contaminants can enhance the detrimental effects of the contaminant and UV radiation.     

Early breeding protects anuran eggs from Saprolegnia infection

Here, we studied the ecological significance of Saprolegnia infections (‘saprolegniasis’) on the survival and development of two populations of the endemic Patagonian anuran Pleurodema thaul (Anura, Leiuperidae). We found that four different Saprolegnia species infected eggs and embryos of P. thaul, indicating that the infection by these ‘zoosporic fungi’ was different in each anuran population and among different cohorts. Late anuran cohorts generally showed a higher incidence of infection than early cohorts, but we observed no clear overall pattern between populations. In addition, in laboratory experiments, we determined that some of the Saprolegnia species induce early hatching, and that hatching timing was variable between populations. In summary, we found that early breeding (by underlying priority effects) could improve the survival of the earliest cohorts of P. thaul by allowing them to survive the stress imposed by epidemic events of Saprolegnia.     

Survival for specific life intervals of smallmouth bass, Micropterus dolomieu, during parental care

We tested whether daily mortality rates (DMR) of smallmouth bass offspring were influenced by life interval, offspring density and growth, parental male attributes, and selected mortality factors during parental care in a regulated Virginia stream. Mortality averaged 9.5% per day (range 5.2–13.9%) and 94.1% total (range 80.9–99.5%) from egg deposition to the juvenile period (29–36 d) for individual broods. Offspring losses were primarily attributed to fungus (Saprolegnia parasitica) infection of eggs and to American eel, Anguilla rostrata, predation. DMR were significantly higher for the interval from swim-up of larvae to metamorphosis relative to earlier and later intervals. There was no significant autocorrelation of DMR among life intervals for individual broods, indicating that relative mortality rates were inconsistent among broods through time. DMR were also uncorrelated with the number of offspring per brood, offspring growth rates, and parental male attributes, except during egg and embryo intervals. Daily egg mortality was negatively related to male size and positively related to the number of eggs per nest, suggesting that density-dependent egg mortality may have been partially offset in nests of larger males. Larger males received more eggs, tended to maintain larger broods throughout parental care, and contributed a high proportion of the total number of juveniles reared. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

黄颡鱼卵水霉病病原的分离鉴定及其无性繁殖特性

【目的】对黄颡鱼卵水霉病病原进行分离鉴定,并对其无性繁殖特性进行研究。【方法】采用传统方法从患水霉病的黄颡鱼卵上进行丝状真菌的分离,然后通过人工感染实验证实分离菌株的致病性,通过形态学观察和ITS rDNA序列分析对致病菌株进行鉴定,并进一步通过单因子法研究其无性繁殖特性。【结果】从患水霉病的黄颡鱼卵上分离了4株丝状真菌,经人工感染试验证实其中一株丝状真菌HP对黄颡鱼卵具有致病性,并进一步研究了其形态与无性繁殖特性,开展了ITS rDNA序列分析。实验结果表明,菌株HP菌丝为透明管状结构,中间无横隔,分枝较少;游动孢子囊多数呈棒状,游动孢子发育成熟后从孢子囊中释放出来,并迅速游离;能够产生第二孢孢子;新孢子囊以内层出的方式产生;藏卵器呈球形,与雄器同枝或异枝。菌株HP的ITS rDNA序列与GenBank基因库中水霉属菌株自然聚类,同源性高达99%,与多子水霉菌株Arg4S(GenBank登录号GQ119935)的亲缘关系最近。结合形态特征与ITS序列鉴定的结果,判定菌株HP为多子水霉(Saprolegnia ferax)。此外,菌株HP在5°C-35°C、pH 4-10范围内均能产生游动孢子,产生游动孢子的最适温度和pH分别为20°C和7,而且5-25 mg/L福尔马林和0.25 1.25 mg/L二硫氰基甲烷对菌株HP产生游动孢子具有明显的抑制作用。【结论】分离鉴定了黄颡鱼卵水霉病病原,并确定了其无性繁殖特性,可以作为该病防治用药的依据。     

Critical evaluation of the VSC model for tip growth

The vesicle supply centre (VSC) model (Bartnicki-Garcia et al., 1989) for hyphal tip growth is powerful because it can model diverse developmental morphologies and predicts cellular organization based in current cell biology. It predicts that tip growth results from the random distribution of cell surface synthesizing vesicles from a point in the tip, the VSC, which determines their pattern of impact and fusion at the plasma membrane. We derive equations for tip-high gradients of vesicle fusions, generated by mechanisms not related to a supply centre, which create typical hyphal morphologies. These equations direct the conceptual basis for tip growth to vesicle fusion gradients, presumably mediated by a putative membrane skeleton associated with the plasma membrane. We also show that the organization and behaviour of motile organelles in growing hyphal tips of the oomycete,Saprolegnia ferax, argue against the presence of an apparatus capable of generating the distribution of vesicles postulated by the VSC model. We conclude that the VSC model is unlikely to describe the mechanistic basis of tip growth inS. ferax, and therefore, at best, it is not universally applicable.     

Saprolegnia parasitica, an oomycete pathogen with a fishy appetite: new challenges for an old problem

Water moulds (oomycetes) of the order Saprolegniales, such as Saprolegnia and Aphanomyces species, are responsible for devastating infections on fish in aquaculture, fish farms and hobby fish tanks. Members of the genus Saprolegnia cause Saprolegniosis, a disease that is characterised by visible white or grey patches of filamentous mycelium on the body or fins of freshwater fish. Up till 2002, Saprolegnia infections in aquaculture were kept under control with malachite green, an organic dye that is very efficient at killing the pathogen. However, the use of malachite green has been banned worldwide due to its carcinogenic and toxicological effects and this has resulted in a dramatic re-emergence of Saprolegnia infections in aquaculture. As a consequence Saprolegnia parasitica is now, economically, a very important fish pathogen, especially on catfish, salmon and trout species, and warrants further investigation to develop new alternative control strategies.     

Cloning and expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae of a β-amylase gene from the oomycete Saprolegnia ferax

Genomic DNA and cDNA encoding the -amylase from the oomycete, Saprolegnia ferax, were cloned into Saccharomyces cerevisiae and analyzed. The Spl. ferax -amylase gene consisted of a 1350 bp open reading frame, encoding a protein of 450 amino acids with a calculated mass of 49353 Da, and was not interrupted by any intron. The deduced amino acid sequence of the -amylase gene had 42% similarity to the -amylase of Arabidopsis thaliana. The -amylase gene was expressed in Sacc. cerevisiae and its product was secreted into the culture medium.