Ecological Genomics of a Global Amphibian Pathogen

地球正处于全球生物多样性危机之中。 物种正在以惊人的速度消失。 这些疾病的原因很复杂，但新出现的疾病起着重要作用，特别是对两栖动物。 十年前，在青蛙身上发现了一种由致命真菌引起的新疾病。 这种壶菌现在已经感染了世界各地的数百种物种。 尽管进行了大量的研究，但对壶菌如何杀死青蛙仍然知之甚少。 该项目将使用新的基于基因组的技术来研究壶菌。 将获得来自世界不同地区和不同环境条件的壶菌菌株的全基因组序列（壶菌DNA中编码的完整遗传信息）。 这项工作将有助于阐明为什么某些壶菌菌株比其他菌株更致命，并将有助于确定对壶菌攻击青蛙的能力至关重要的特定基因。 该项目采取了一种尖端的方法来解决一个重要的疾病问题，并将有利于青蛙的保护工作。这项研究的结果也可能为真菌病原体的遗传学提供更一般的线索，例如那些影响人类的病原体。 从教育的角度来看，这项研究的结果可以作为一种教学工具，展示如何创造性地解决环境问题，可以对全球生物多样性产生积极影响。

Earth is in the midst of a global biodiversity crisis. Species are disappearing at alarming rates. The causes of these extinctions are complex, but emerging diseases play an important role, particularly for amphibians. Ten years ago a new disease caused by a deadly fungus was discovered in frogs. This chytrid fungus has now infected hundreds of species all around the world. Despite intensive research efforts, little is still known about how chytrid kills frogs. This project will use new genomic based techniques to study chytrid. Whole genome sequences (the complete genetic information encoded in chytrid DNA) will be obtained for chytrid strains from different parts of the world and from different environmental conditions. This work will help elucidate why certain strains of chytrid are more deadly than others and will help identify particular genes that are important for chytrid's ability to attack frogs. This project takes a cutting-edge approach to an important disease problem and will benefit conservation efforts in frogs. Results from this research may also provide more general clues about the genetics of fungal pathogens, such as those affecting humans. From an educational standpoint the findings from this research can be used as a teaching tool to show how creative approaches to environmental problems can have a positive impact on global biodiversity.