Into the Heart of an Epidemic: a US-Brazil Collaboration for Integrative Studies of the Amphibian-Killing Fungus in Brazil

该奖项支持计划几位美国研究人员（代表密歇根大学、康奈尔大学和缅因大学）和巴西同事（来自坎皮纳斯大学和阿拉戈斯联邦大学）之间的会议。目的是为研究巴西大西洋沿岸森林中的两栖动物杀伤真菌Batrachochytrium dendroatidis （Bd）的生态学和进化提供初步数据。巴西的两栖动物的多样性是无与伦比的，有近900种，其中500多种出现在不到10%的原始大西洋森林中。大西洋森林物种减少的原因包括栖息地破坏和入侵物种，但真菌疾病（壶菌病）的贡献是不确定的，它导致了全球两栖动物的减少。多个实验室正在独立研究巴西壶菌病的生物学，初步结果证实该疾病广泛存在，证据表明巴西病原体的遗传多样性比迄今为止采样的任何其他国家都要大。巴西合作者带来了巴西壶菌病的丰富经验，特别是真菌生物学，两栖动物进化，两栖动物生态学和微生物学。这种最近出现的两栖动物真菌疾病是一个现代问题，几乎没有先例（壶菌病是已知的第一种来自壶菌门的脊椎动物病原体），因此一个成功的研究策略必须包括综合方法，结合很少相互作用的生物学分支学科。计划举行两次会议，一次在美国，一次在巴西，将来自5个参与实验室的教师和学生研究人员聚集在一起。巴西为这项活动提供的额外资金将允许建立疾病检测和量化工具，这是巴西的第一个此类能力，在巴西，对这种入侵病原体的认识和反应正在增加。它还将通过平衡美国和巴西合作大学的技术能力以及保持合作学生和教师之间的联系，使两国的生物医学研究人员之间实现无缝合作。许多早期职业科学家将参与这一合作努力。特别是，该项目将使美国博士生有机会接受疾病生态学的跨学科培训，并由具有热带两栖动物生态学、分类学和微生物学专业知识的巴西同事指导。两国的学生将受益于遗传学和疾病动力学方法方面的培训，并直接参与国际综合合作的发展。

This award supports planning meetings between several US researchers (representing the University of Michigan, Cornell University, and the University of Maine) and Brazilian colleagues (from the Universidade de Campinas and the Universidade Federal de Alagoas). The goal is to generate preliminary data for studies of the ecology and evolution of the amphibian-killing fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), in the Atlantic Coastal Forest of Brazil. Amphibian diversity of Brazil is unparalleled at nearly 900 species, of which more than 500 occur in the less than 10% of the original Atlantic Forest that remains. Causes of species declines in the Atlantic Forest include habitat destruction and invasive species, but the contribution of the fungal disease (chytridiomycosis), which has caused global amphibian declines, is uncertain. Multiple labs are independently researching the biology of chytridiomycosis in Brazil, with initial results verifying that the disease is widespread and evidence suggesting that the genetic diversity of the pathogen in Brazil is greater than in any other country sampled to date. The Brazilian collaborators bring varied experience on chytridiomycosis in Brazil, in particular, fungal biology, amphibian evolution, amphibian ecology, and microbiology. This recently emerging amphibian fungal disease is a modern problem with little precedent (chytridiomycosis is the first vertebrate pathogen known from the phylum Chytridiomycota), and therefore a successful research strategy must include integrative approaches, combining sub-disciplines of biology that rarely interact with each other. Two meetings, one in the US and one in Brazil, are planned to bring together faculty and student researchers from the five participating laboratories.Additional funding for this activity from Brazil will permit the establishment of disease detection and quantification tools, the first such capabilities in Brazil, where the awareness and response to this invading pathogen is increasing. It will also permit seamless collaborations between Bd researchers in the two countries, by equalizing technical capabilities at US and Brazilian collaborating universities and maintaining ties among collaborating students and faculty. Numerous early-career scientists will participate in this collaborative effort. In particular, this project will give US Ph.D. students the opportunity to receive interdisciplinary training in disease ecology and be mentored by Brazilian colleagues with expertise in tropical amphibian ecology, taxonomy, and microbiology. Students in both countries will benefit from training in methods in genetics and disease dynamics, and participate directly in the development of international integrative collaborations.