| NSF Org: |
IOS Division Of Integrative Organismal Systems |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | February 22, 2013 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | July 22, 2015 |
| Award Number: | 1258133 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Karen Mabry
IOS Division Of Integrative Organismal Systems BIO Directorate for Biological Sciences |
| Start Date: | August 1, 2013 |
| End Date: | July 31, 2017 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $595,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $595,000.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2014 = $260,000.00 FY 2015 = $75,000.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1600 HOLLOWAY AVE SAN FRANCISCO CA US 94132-1740 (415)338-7090 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
1600 Holloway Ave San Francisco CA US 94132-1722 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Animal Behavior |
| Primary Program Source: |
01001415DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001516DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.074 |
ABSTRACT
This research will advance our understanding the relationship between infectious disease and social behavior. Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is a deadly fungal pathogen has caused the extinction of many amphibian species. This research will examine how amphibian social behavior spreads this potentially fatal pathogen by studying the communally nesting of slender salamanders (genus Batrachoseps), this salamander is the most common vertebrate in California and recent evidence shows that many populations are infected by the fungal pathogen Bd.
Intellectual Merit. The investigators will test the hypothesis that sociality increases Bd transmission by measuring levels of communal nesting and comparing this with the frequency and degree of infection. The researchers will also test the hypothesis that longer histories of pathogen exposure lead to the evolutionary loss of social behavior by reconstructing each population's history of Bd infection from museum specimens. Understanding this link between amphibian social behavior and infectious disease will have important implications for the conservation of endangered amphibians, and may provide insights into the spread of human disease.
Broader impacts. San Francisco State University is a large, comprehensive public university, where 35% of the enrolled undergraduates are under-represented minorities or from groups under-represented in the sciences. This project will provide these students with a strong foundation as well as the practical tools and critical thinking skills that will ready them for life-long learning and mastering the challenges awaiting them in graduate school and the workforce. These students will work to include behavioral data in the publically-accessible AmphibiaWeb database, (http://amphibiaweb.org/), which receives more than 20,000 queries per day. AmhibiaWeb will be used to disseminate the research findings from this project to both the scientific community and the public, in addition to the publications and presentations that will be jointly authored by the PIs and their students.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
This project was one of the first to address the relationship between amphibian social behavior and the spread of a pathogenic disease. Our study organism was the communally nesting slender salamander (genus Batrachoseps) and the fungal disease chytridiomycosis, caused by the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). We used a genetic (qPCR) technique to assess pathogen loads on the skin of both historical (museum preserved) salamanders and contemporary field populations throughout California. We found that this disease began to spread throughout California in the 1960’s and peaked in the 1990’s in prevalence.
By reconstructing the history of Bd pathogen invasion in populations using museum specimens, we tested the hypothesis that a longer history of infection leads to the evolutionary loss of communal nesting (given that this aquatic pathogen can only be transmitted in this terrestrial species through skin to skin contact). We also conducted laboratory experiments that addressed the effects of salamander group size (e.g. level of communal nesting) on disease transmission and behavior. Finally, extensive field studies of several populations and species of Batrachoseps revealed that salamanders in social groups were more than twice as likely to contract chytridiomycosis relative to solitary individuals.
We also profiled the bacterial communities found on skin of salamander species within the genera Batrachoseps and Ensatina using Next Generation sequencing, finding that salamander microbiomes are distinct from their surrounding soil and consistent across populations and subspecies. We also cultivated a subset of these bacteria in the laboratory and confirmed their ability to inhibit the growth of the fungal pathogen Bd.
In terms of broader impacts, we collaborated with AmphibiaWeb.org to capture and incorporate behavioral traits of all salamander species that will be included in a searchable format for their online public database. This project also supported the work of nine Master’s students (including four underrepresented minorities) as well as the training of over forty undergraduates (approximately half were underrepresented minorities).
Last Modified: 11/05/2017
Modified by: Andrew G Zink
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