Are amphibians evolving tolerance to Bd?

A new paper by Anna Savage and Kelly Zamudio suggests that amphibian populations may be evolving tolerance to Bd. This result is based on the analysis of MHC loci.

The authors write "Our findings indicate that selective pressure for Bd survival drives rapid immunogenetic adaptation in some natural populations, despite differences in environment and demography. Our field-based analysis of immunogenetic variation confirms that natural amphibian populations have the evolutionary potential to adapt to chytridiomycosis."

The paper published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society can be found here:
http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/283/1827/20153115

The salamander-killing fungus is more widely distributed than previously known

A new paper in Emerging Infectious Diseases shows that the salamander-killing chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans occurs in the Netherlands (the index site where the first outbreak was observed), Belgium and also in Germany. In the wild, it infects Salamandra salamandra, Ichthyosaura alpestris and Lissotriton vulgaris.

Read the full paper here:
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/22/7/16-0109_article
PDF:
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/22/7/pdfs/16-0109.pdf

For more information on the fungus: http://www.salamanderfungus.org/