Pseudacris regilla

On 12/03/2012, the G1 news portal published an article about a frog, Pacific Tree Frog (Pseudacris regilla), immune disease chytridiomycosis, caused by the chytrid fungus. The information was extracted from a paper by San Francisco Satate University  researchers (California, USA) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America journal (PNAS).

The chytrid fungus,  causes the disease chytridiomycosis, has the ability to parasitize widely vertebrates. Specifically on the amphibians, the fungus has been considered one of the most likely causes of the decline of world populations, having wiped out more than 200 species of amphibians worldwide.

Pseudacris regilla is a endemic specie to the U.S. and very abundant. Individuals can contract the fungus, but  symptoms do not occur even in individuals with high levels of infection. Because it is abundant and a reservoir of the parasite, Pseudacris regilla may jeopardize the existence of other sympatric species susceptible to the fungus, spreading the deadly disease. The next step for researchers is to understand the biochemical mechanisms which exist in this specie make it immune to the fungus.