Departments Collaborate on Amphibian Health Research
November 2, 2009 • By Amanda Caskey, Contributing Writer
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HARRISONBURG, Va. — A fungal infection is killing amphibians worldwide, causing problems for the environment and the general health of humans, but two JMU faculty are looking for a way to stop it.
Microbial ecologist and biology professor Reid Harris and chemistry professor Kevin Minbiole have studied the effects of beneficial antifungal skin bacteria on amphibians for five years.
Harris became interested with the concept after hearing a talk at a science conference investigating the idea that the bacteria could protect eggs and embryos from harmful fungus.
“Then suddenly it occurred to me that we could also investigate whether antifungal skin bacteria protected adults from chytrid fungus,” Harris said.
Harris and Minbiole, along with research teams of graduate and undergraduate students, are examining natural strategies to protect these amphibians.
“Globally, amphibians face one of the largest extinction rates in the animal kingdom,” Minbiole said.
JMU has received much exposure for these findings, with the research featured on Animal Planet and in publications like National Geographic, Science and New Scientist.
“In general, it shows that JMU supports faculty research with undergraduate students and graduate students, and that the faculty, the students and JMU all benefit,” Harris said.
Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) causes the fungal disease chytridiomycosis in these amphibians. It disrupts the flow of electrolytes in their skin causing heart failure, according to nature.com. Recent studies on frogs have found that the levels of potassium and sodium are greatly reduced in the infected. Frogs must maintain a proper flow of these ions or the electrical regulation of the heart will break down.
The issues represented in this research affects humans in many ways.
“When species go extinct, we can’t study amphibian chemicals, such as their defensive secretions, which models for anti-cancer drugs for humans,” Harris said.
Other effects can alter biodiversity in the ecosystem.
“The loss of biodiversity of amphibians suggest ecological instability and can be used to gauge the health of the environment,” graduate student Brianna Lam said.
In the biology department, Harris has identified some skin bacteria that protect salamanders and frogs from the fungus.
Meanwhile, in the department of chemistry and biochemistry, Minbiole and his team have identified chemicals produced by these bacteria that are key agents for protection.
“So far we have found three naturally occurring chemicals on salamander skin using salamanders directly from the JMU Arboretum,” Minbiole said.
Other field data have shown that a higher proportion of Rana muscosa, or mountain yellow-legged frog, has survived the presence of Bd in its environment has “had at least one species of anti-chytrid bacteria on the skin.”
“During this experiment, 100 percent of inoculated [amphibians] survived exposure to Bd and those without this protection died,” said Albert Mercurio, a 2009 JMU graduate.
Mercurio is spending another year working in the lab as a research technician while completing follow-up projects stemming from results he found as an undergraduate.
One ultimate goal of this research is to re-introduce amphibian species now in “survival assurance colonies” to the wild.
“They can’t be re-introduced now because the Bd is still present in nature, and the frogs are susceptible,” Harris said. “We hope to protect these frogs with beneficial bacteria and allow their re-introduction.”
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