(Press-News.org) The Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Center at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama partnered with the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in India to develop and validate a new test for chytridiomycosis strains, offering new insights into a wildlife disease that caused dramatic declines of over 500 amphibian species and the extinction of 90 others. Their novel assay, published in the journal Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, identified previously undetected Indian strains, and successfully detected strains from other parts of the world.
The new diagnostic assay was tested with frogs, toads, caecilians (limbless amphibians) and salamanders (tailed amphibians) in India, with comparable or even better results than the gold-standard assay recommended for the diagnosis of chytridiomycosis. Its effectivity was successfully verified in labs in Panama and Australia, proving it to be an affordable alternative for the widespread surveillance of chytridiomycosis in different parts of the world.
Rapid detection of chytridiomycosis is essential in managing and mitigating the disease. But ongoing research on this infection caused by two fungal pathogens reveals a complex, dynamically evolving genome. As new strains evolve in different parts of the world and spread through the global trade of amphibians, large-scale surveillance for emerging hybrid varieties is necessary. The newly developed assay will aid global detection, highlighting the value of international scientific collaborations in the search for solutions to a common threat.
“This assay will allow researchers to study and determine the spread of strains of the amphibian chytrid fungus that previously passed undetected, especially in countries around the Indian Ocean, where human trade has moved and introduced frog species,” said STRI scientist Roberto Ibáñez, who collaborated in the study.
The new test may also aid in the detection of pathogen reservoirs that have not been identified yet. That is, amphibian species that may be infected but do not show visible symptoms of disease or mortality and are able to silently transmit the disease to other susceptible species in their surroundings.
“One strain of the amphibian chytrid fungus caused dramatic population declines, even the disappearance of amphibian species in Panama,” said co-author Ibáñez. “The Chiriquí harlequin frog (Atelopus chiriquiensis) and the Panamanian golden frog (Atelopus zeteki) have not been seen for several years. A few species of frogs have reappeared in some localities, but they have not fully recovered their previous population levels. The amphibian chytrid fungus is still a threat for susceptible species in natural areas.”
The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, headquartered in Panama City, Panama, is part of the Smithsonian Institution. The Institute furthers the understanding of tropical nature and its importance to human welfare, trains students to conduct research in the tropics and promotes conservation by increasing public awareness of the beauty and importance of tropical ecosystems.
END
Scientists from the Global South innovate to track ongoing amphibian pandemic
A new diagnostic test showed comparable or even better results than the gold-standard assay recommended for the diagnosis of chytridiomycosis, a wildlife disease that has caused dramatic declines of amphibians globally
2023-05-24
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
AI tool outperforms human emergency call handlers in identifying stroke, new study shows
2023-05-24
(24 May 2023, Munich, Germany) A team of researchers from Denmark have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) framework to address the number of strokes that go unrecognised by human emergency call handlers.1 The framework outperformed emergency call handlers in recognising stroke for both sexes and across all age groups studied, indicating its potential as a supplementary tool for early and precise stroke identification in the future.
The retrospective study, presented today at the European Stroke ...
Urban garden project seeks to reduce food insecurity and improve outcomes for people with HIV
2023-05-24
A University of Massachusetts Amherst public health scientist has received a five-year, $3.4 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to lead an urban gardening and peer nutritional counseling program aimed at improving the health of HIV-positive people with food insecurity in the Dominican Republic.
The project involving an international team of researchers and community partners is believed to the first full-scale trial to integrate nutritional counseling with food-generating ...
Propellers are louder over ground, researchers find
2023-05-24
The effects of the ground on propeller noise have been measured experimentally for the very first time by researchers in the Aeroacoustics research team at the University of Bristol.
In findings, published in the Journal of Sound and Vibration, the team found clear differences in the noise characteristics of propellers when over ground, known as ‘Ground Effect’, compared to when operated normally. They noted an overall noise increase when measuring at angles above the ground, with hydrodynamic and acoustic interaction effects being a key factor to the overall noise trends.
It is hoped this research, tested in the National Aeroacoustic Wind Tunnel ...
Establishing a wildflower meadow at King’s College, Cambridge bolstered biodiversity and reduced greenhouse gas emissions, study finds.
2023-05-24
A new study examining the effects of planting a wildflower meadow in the historic grounds of King’s College, Cambridge has demonstrated its benefits to local biodiversity and climate change mitigation.
The study, led by King’s Research Fellow Dr Cicely Marshall, found that establishing the meadow had made a considerable impact to the wildlife value of the land, while reducing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with its upkeep.
Marshall and her colleagues, among them three King’s undergraduate students, conducted biodiversity surveys over three years to compare the species richness, abundance ...
Breakthrough in computer chip energy efficiency could cut data center electricity use
2023-05-24
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers at Oregon State University and Baylor University have made a breakthrough toward reducing the energy consumption of the photonic chips used in data centers and supercomputers.
The findings are important because a data center can consume up to 50 times more energy per square foot of floor space than a typical office building, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
A data center houses an organization’s information technology operations and equipment; it stores, processes and disseminates ...
Study reveals unique molecular machinery of woman who can’t feel pain
2023-05-24
The biology underpinning a rare genetic mutation that allows its carrier to live virtually pain-free, heal more rapidly and experience reduced anxiety and fear, has been uncovered by new research from UCL.
The study, published in Brain, follows up the team’s discovery in 2019 of the FAAH-OUT gene and the rare mutations that cause Jo Cameron to feel virtually no pain and never feel anxious or afraid. The new research describes how the mutation in FAAH-OUT ‘turns down’ FAAH gene expression, as well as the knock-on effects on other molecular pathways linked to wound healing and mood. It is hoped the findings will ...
NTT and OIST make the first simultaneous atmospheric and marine observations directly beneath a violent, Category 5 typhoon in the North-West Pacific
2023-05-24
Joint Press Release
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT, Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Akira Shimada) and the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST, Head office: Onna-son, Kunigami-gun, Okinawa, Japan, Acting President: Dr. Albrecht Wagner) have successfully conducted the world’s first simultaneous marine and atmospheric measurements at multiple locations directly beneath a violent, Category 5*1, which is the strongest class, typhoon in the North-West Pacific, before it reached land.
These observations were made directly beneath typhoon No. 11, called “Hinnamnor”/”Henry”, ...
Study finds school improvement plan (SIP) templates continue to be enacted out of compliance rather than as mechanism for spurring and sustaining improvement efforts in schools
2023-05-24
School accountability policies from around the world list an array of mandates and recommendations to improve schools. One prevalent mandate, especially in the United States, calls for the development of a school improvement plan (SIP). Since the 1970s, many U.S. states have required that schools develop SIPs, and, in the 1990s, the U.S. federal government started to require that all state-designated underperforming schools develop SIPs (IASA, 1994; Odden & Dougherty, 1982). These school accountability policy mandates assert that SIPs are an improvement tool for educators to use to set direction, ...
Mays Cancer Center conducts only clinical trial in America of a specific drug combination for lethal brain cancer glioblastoma
2023-05-23
SAN ANTONIO (May 23, 2023) — The Mays Cancer Center at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio recently conducted a clinical trial combining two drugs in patients with recurrent, high-grade glioblastoma (GBM). The Mays Cancer Center, one of the four National Cancer Institute-Designated Cancer Centers in Texas, is the only center in America to conduct this trial.
Andrew Brenner, MD, PhD, professor of medicine at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio and a specialist in both breast cancer and malignancies of the brain and spinal cord, initiated the clinical trial.
“Glioblastoma ...
Researchers use nuclear spins neighboring a lanthanide atom in a crystal to create Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger quantum states
2023-05-23
Researchers have experimentally demonstrated a new quantum information storage protocol that can be used to create Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) quantum states. There is a great deal of interest in these complex entangled states because of their potential use in quantum sensing and quantum error correction applications.
Chun-Ju Wu from the California Institute of Technology will present this research at the Optica Quantum 2.0 Conference and Exhibition, as a hybrid event 18-22 June in Denver, Colorado.
Quantum-based technologies store information ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Post-LLM era: New horizons for AI with knowledge, collaboration, and co-evolution
“Sloshing” from celestial collisions solves mystery of how galactic clusters stay hot
Children poisoned by the synthetic opioid, fentanyl, has risen in the U.S. – eight years of national data shows
USC researchers observe mice may have a form of first aid
VUMC to develop AI technology for therapeutic antibody discovery
Unlocking the hidden proteome: The role of coding circular RNA in cancer
Advancing lung cancer treatment: Understanding the differences between LUAD and LUSC
Study reveals widening heart disease disparities in the US
The role of ubiquitination in cancer stem cell regulation
New insights into LSD1: a key regulator in disease pathogenesis
Vanderbilt lung transplant establishes new record
Revolutionizing cancer treatment: targeting EZH2 for a new era of precision medicine
Metasurface technology offers a compact way to generate multiphoton entanglement
Effort seeks to increase cancer-gene testing in primary care
Acoustofluidics-based method facilitates intracellular nanoparticle delivery
Sulfur bacteria team up to break down organic substances in the seabed
Stretching spider silk makes it stronger
Earth's orbital rhythms link timing of giant eruptions and climate change
Ammonia build-up kills liver cells but can be prevented using existing drug
New technical guidelines pave the way for widespread adoption of methane-reducing feed additives in dairy and livestock
Eradivir announces Phase 2 human challenge study of EV25 in healthy adults infected with influenza
New study finds that tooth size in Otaria byronia reflects historical shifts in population abundance
nTIDE March 2025 Jobs Report: Employment rate for people with disabilities holds steady at new plateau, despite February dip
Breakthrough cardiac regeneration research offers hope for the treatment of ischemic heart failure
Fluoride in drinking water is associated with impaired childhood cognition
New composite structure boosts polypropylene’s low-temperature toughness
While most Americans strongly support civics education in schools, partisan divide on DEI policies and free speech on college campuses remains
Revolutionizing surface science: Visualization of local dielectric properties of surfaces
LearningEMS: A new framework for electric vehicle energy management
Nearly half of popular tropical plant group related to birds-of-paradise and bananas are threatened with extinction
[Press-News.org] Scientists from the Global South innovate to track ongoing amphibian pandemicA new diagnostic test showed comparable or even better results than the gold-standard assay recommended for the diagnosis of chytridiomycosis, a wildlife disease that has caused dramatic declines of amphibians globally