Frog Fungal Pandemic

     A killer sweeping across the world is destroying the lives of many frogs and its name: chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. Many scientists around the world are worried about the fungi potential to cause mass extinction of frog species all around the world which has presumably already taken 90 species from the world. The way the fungi attacks the frogs system is it targets the frogs skin and can choke the frogs supply of electrolytes unfortunately causing fatal heart attacks. Its spread around the world is theorized from the pet trade and conservation efforts have been only temporary solutions to only individual problems that haven't tackled the whole populations. Without a long term solution frogs may fall off the face of the earth causing a gigantic rift within ecosystems and the food chain. No frogs leads to higher populations of insects that are left unchecked without natural predators to manage their numbers.

   Areas across the Northern Californian wilderness have been heavily affected by the spread of the fungi that had pushed the Sierra-Nevada yellow-legged frogs to the brink of extinction. But recently they have bounced back in a way that from observations they have gained immunity in a way. Researchers at the University of California, Berkley, believes that the answers for a long term solution lie within its genetic code. Erica Bree Rosenblum, a molecular geneticist at the University of California, has recently found a pattern within the frogs who survived better in their ecosystems. She saw that frogs with certain genetic variations and mutations that were not present in those in areas untouched by the fungi epidemic. One of the genes that stood out was that of a blueprint for glycoproteins that bind to pathogens and present them to white blood cells. This discover goes to show that through natural processes species will thrive in unlikely circumstances and adapt to new situations without the help of human interactions and this case is a prime example of natural selection running its course.

Source:

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/frog-survive-fungal-pandemic-bd-fungus

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/frog-saunas-could-protect-species-from-devastating-fungal-disease/