IMR Press / FBS / Volume 1 / Issue 1 / DOI: 10.2741/S8

Frontiers in Bioscience-Scholar (FBS) is published by IMR Press from Volume 13 Issue 1 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.

Article

Immune defenses of Xenopus laevis against Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis

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1 Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232 USA
2 Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232 USA
3 Department of Biology, James Madison University, Harrisonburg VA 22807 USA
4 Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

 

Front. Biosci. (Schol Ed) 2009, 1(1), 68–91; https://doi.org/10.2741/S8
Published: 1 June 2009
Abstract

Amphibian populations are declining at an unprecedented rate worldwide. A number of declines have been linked to a pathogenic skin fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. Although amphibians have robust immune defenses, many species seem to be very susceptible to infection by this fungus and to development of the lethal disease called chytridiomycosis. One species that is relatively resistant to B. dendrobatidis is Xenopus laevis. Because X. laevis has been used as a model for studies of immunity in amphibians and because it is relatively resistant to chytridiomycosis, it is a good model to examine immune defenses against B. dendrobatidis. Although much less is known about immune defenses in Bufo boreas, it serves as a second model species because it is very susceptible to B. dendrobatidis. Here we review what is known about innate antimicrobial peptide defenses in the skin and the development of immune responses following experimental immunization with heat-killed fungal cells. Development of an immunization protocol in X. laevis that induces effective defenses may suggest better strategies for protecting vulnerable species such as B. boreas.

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