Person:
Bosch López, Jaime Alfonso

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First Name
Jaime Alfonso
Last Name
Bosch López
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/85384
Affiliation
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Faculty / Institute
Veterinaria
Department
Sanidad Animal
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2006 - 200912010 - 20171
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Author: Fisher, Matthew C. × End date: 2019 ×

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    Climate change and outbreaks of amphibian chytridiomycosis in a montane area of Central Spain; is there a link?
    (Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2006) Bosch López, Jaime Alfonso; Carrascal, Luis M.; Durán Montejano, Luis; Walker, Susan; Fisher, Matthew C.
    Amphibian species are declining at an alarming rate on a global scale in large part owing to an infectious disease caused by the chytridiomycete fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. This disease of amphibians has recently emerged within Europe, but knowledge of its effects on amphibian assemblages remains poor. Importantly, little is known about the environmental envelope that is associated with chytridiomycosis in Europe and the potential for climate change to drive future disease dynamics. Here, we use long-term observations on amphibian population dynamics in the Penalara Natural Park, Spain, to investigate the link between climate change and chytridiomycosis. Our analysis shows a significant association between change in local climatic variables and the occurrence of chytridiomycosis within this region. Specifically, we show that rising temperature is linked to the occurrence of chytrid-related disease, consistent with the chytrid-thermal-optimum hypothesis. We show that these local variables are driven by general circulation patterns, principally the North Atlantic Oscillation. Given that B. dendrobatidis is known to be broadly distributed across Europe, there is now an urgent need to assess the generality of our finding and determine whether climate-driven epidemics may be expected to impact on amphibian species across the wider region.
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    Early exposure to Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis causes profound immunosuppression in amphibians
    (European Journal of Wildlife Research, 2017) Fernández-Loras, Andrés; Fernández-Beaskoetxea, Saioa; Arriero Higueras, Elena; Fisher, Matthew C.; Bosch López, Jaime Alfonso
    Fungal pathogens have evolved a broad suite of strategies aiming at evading the host immune response. Amphibians are globally infected by the panzootic chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) and, while robust innate immune defences have been characterised, there is little evidence for the existence of effective adaptive immunity. We determine the immune response of the common midwife toad following challenge by Bd as larvae. Immune function was described for both the cell-mediated and antibody-mediated immune responses following infectious challenge as larval amphibians. While there were no significant differences in the ratio of neutrophils/lymphocytes between infected and uninfected individuals, early exposure of tadpoles to Bd significantly dampened the levels of circulating immunoglobulins (IgM and IgY) in the serum of juveniles after metamorphosis. Our results show that Bd immunosuppresses amphibians when infection occurs as larvae with potentially broad effects on the remodelling of immunity during metamorphosis.