Experimental methodologies can affect pathogenicity of Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans infections
Experimental methodologies can affect pathogenicity of Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans infections
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DOI：
10.1371/journal.pone.0235370
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发表时间：
2020-09-11
期刊：
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Gray, Matthew J.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Kumar, Rajeev;Malagon, Daniel A.;Gray, Matthew J.
对照实验是了解病原对易感宿主致病性的一种方法。最近发现的真菌病原体，蝾螈壶菌（Bsal），由于其可能影响全球蝾螈的生物多样性，导致了大量的实验研究。然而，实验方法的变化可能会通过引入混淆因素使研究之间的比较变得困难，从而阻碍知识的进步。因此，我们的目的是评估实验方法的变化是否会改变对bsal致病性的推断。我们测试了bsalo培养的传代时间、宿主bsalo的暴露方法（水浴vs皮肤接种）、bsalo培养方法（液体vs平板）、宿主饲养条件（水生vs陆生）和皮肤拭子频率是否会影响易感宿主东蝾螈（Notophthalmus viri下降病毒）的疾病致死亡率。我们发现，当暴露在低通道隔离物中，当蝾螈被安置在陆地环境中，以及通过水浴暴露于游动孢子时，东部蝾螈的疾病引起的死亡率更快。我们没有发现不同的培养方法或拭子频率在疾病引起的死亡率上的差异。我们的结果说明了标准化实验方法的必要性。我们在假设检验的背景下对未来的生物实验提出了建议，并讨论了我们的结果的生态意义。
Controlled experiments are one approach to understanding the pathogenicity of etiologic agents to susceptible hosts. The recently discovered fungal pathogen,Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans(Bsal), has resulted in a surge of experimental investigations because of its potential to impact global salamander biodiversity. However, variation in experimental methodologies could thwart knowledge advancement by introducing confounding factors that make comparisons difficult among studies. Thus, our objective was to evaluate if variation in experimental methods changed inferences made on the pathogenicity ofBsal. We tested whether passage duration ofBsalculture, exposure method of the host toBsal(water bath vs. skin inoculation),Bsalculturing method (liquid vs. plated), host husbandry conditions (aquatic vs. terrestrial), and skin swabbing frequency influenced diseased-induced mortality in a susceptible host species, the eastern newt (Notophthalmus viridescens). We found that disease-induced mortality was faster for eastern newts when exposed to a low passage isolate, when newts were housed in terrestrial environments, and if exposure to zoospores occurred via water bath. We did not detect differences in disease-induced mortality between culturing methods or swabbing frequencies. Our results illustrate the need to standardize methods amongBsalexperiments. We provide suggestions for futureBsalexperiments in the context of hypothesis testing and discuss the ecological implications of our results.