Question

99. What are the chytrids? What role do they play in the current amphibian crisis? 100

Answer 1

Ans.

Chytrids, mainly known as Chytridiomycota is a phylum of Fungi , are the most primitive phylum of true fungi i.e Eumycota having motile Zoospores and Whiplash flagellum. They reproduce asexually.

An Example of Chytrid fungi is Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis.

Several species serve as parasites on amphibians. Batrachochytrium cause diseases in many species of Amphibians. They cause an infectious disease in amphibians which is known as Chytridiomycosis. Thus Chytrids play an important role in the extinction of several species of amphibians.

The disease was first discovered in 1993 in dying frogs in Queensland, Australia. Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis i.e a waterborne pathogen which disperses zoospores in the environment. Those predominantly affects the outermost layer of amphibians skin containing keratin then give rise to sporangia that produce new zoospores. These zoospores then reinfected the host and thus the disease progresses. Amphibians shows some morphological changes when infected with the fungi such as: Thickening of skin , Reddening of the ventral skin, Accumulation of sloughed skin around the body , roughness of the surface, sloughing of the superficial epidermis of feet etc. Which leads death of an individual as they can not take proper nutrients and release toxins and develop breathing problem. In the tadpoles Chytrids affect the mouthparts where keratin is present.

Thus Chytrids or some species of Chytrids cause infectious diseases in amphibians and causes harm and thus play a typical role in current amphibians crisis.