Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) has caused the extinction and extirpation of hundreds of amphibian species around the world. There are non-amphibian hosts, and so the eradication of this pathogen is unlikely, instead we must focus on a vaccine management campaign. We can vaccinate adult frogs to the fungus with exposure to dead zoospores and the metabolites they produce to burrow into the epidermal layer of the host. Here, we are investigating whether we can vaccinate different amphibian life stages (tadpoles and metamorphs) of Cuban treefrogs (Osteopilus septentrionalis) to Bd. We exposed tadpoles and metamorphs (n = 25 and 10, respectively) to one of four treatments: water control, filtered dead zoospores alone (no metabolites), dead zoospores with metabolites, and metabolites alone (no zoospores). After the vaccine treatment we exposed all individuals to live Bd for two weeks and screened them for Bd load and prevalence with quantitative PCR.
Results/Conclusions
We found treatments with metabolites were the most effective for inducing an acquired resistance to Bd. This work has helped us refine the vaccine treatment for Bd, and showed we can vaccinate other developmental stages beyond adults. We can now take these findings and use them to develop an effective wild vaccine campaign.