Investigating Agreement between Snake Sheds and Skin Swabs in Detection of Ophidiomyces ophidiicola

Dibadj, Bryce; Haynes, Ellen; Vivirito, Kathryn; Wright, Allison; Stanford, Kristin I.; Allender, Matthew C.

doi:10.5818/jhms-s-20-00007

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…However, asymptomatic animals may have an undetected subepidermal or visceral Oo infection . Almost full agreement of fungal copies/ng DNA was found in the qPCR results from swabs, tissue biopsies, and exuviae, suggesting that each of these samples is reliable and allows fungal detection with molecular methods (Baker et al 2019;Dibadj et al 2021). Moults can be homogenized and analyzed via qPCR, sometimes highlighting false negatives resulting from previous swabs (e.g., McKenzie et al 2020b).…”

Section: Diagnosticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ophidiomyces ophidiicola detection and infection: a global review on a potential threat to the world’s snake populations

Nicola

Coppari²,

Notomista³

et al. 2022

Eur J Wildl Res

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Ophidiomyces ophidiicola (Oo) is one of the most relevant fungal pathogens for snakes. It is the etiological agent of ophidiomycosis, an emerging disease causing dysecdysis, skin abnormalities, crusting cutaneous lesions, and ulcerations. Despite this major tegumentary “tropism”, Oo infection can be systemic and it is capable of inducing visceral lesions. Moreover, ophidiomycosis may lead to abnormalities of reproductive physiology, hunting behavior, and thermoregulation, thus increasing the risks of sublethal effects and predation on affected snakes. Oo seems horizontally transmitted and can induce postnatal mortality. This article reviews published data on Oo detection and infection in all snake species in countries around the world and categorizes these data using new classification parameters. The presence of this fungus has been recorded in 11 states (considering the USA as a whole); however, in four states, the mycosis has only been reported in snakes held in captivity. Detection and/or infection of Oo has been ascertained in 62 snake species, divided into nine families. The taxa have been categorized with diagnostic criteria in order to report, for each species, the highest rank of categorization resulting from all cases. Therefore, 20 species have been included within the class “Ophidiomycosis and Oo shedder”, 11 within “Ophidiomycosis”, 16 in “Apparent ophidiomycosis”, and 15 within “Ophidiomyces ophidiicola present”. We also discuss the significance and limits of case classifications and Oo’s impact on wild populations, and we suggest methods for preliminary surveillance. Standardized methods, interdisciplinary studies, and cooperation between various research institutions may facilitate further Oo screening studies, elucidate the unclear aspects of the disease, and protect ophidiofauna from this emerging threat at the global level.

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Section: Diagnosticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ophidiomyces ophidiicola detection and infection: a global review on a potential threat to the world’s snake populations

Nicola

Coppari²,

Notomista³

et al. 2022

Eur J Wildl Res

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“…Here, we studied the response of a snake host to ophidiomycosis by performing controlled O. ophidiicola exposure experiments in Prairie rattlesnakes ( Crotalus viridis ) at two different temperatures and then conducting transcriptomic analyses of gene expression in multiple tissues of infected and control individuals. Prairie rattlesnakes are a common and widely distributed snake species with known infections in the wild (Allender et al., 2020) and are also closely related to many other susceptible species (Burbrink et al., 2017), which makes them a good model to study ophidiomycosis (Dibadj et al., 2021). We describe the changes in gene expression occurring in different host tissues and use this information to infer the possible biological mechanisms underlying O. ophidiicola infection.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic mechanisms and biological processes underlying host response to ophidiomycosis (snake fungal disease) inferred from tissue‐specific transcriptome analyses

Mathur,

Haynes,

Allender

et al. 2023

Molecular Ecology

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Emerging infectious diseases in wildlife species caused by pathogenic fungi are of growing concern, yet crucial knowledge gaps remain for diseases with potentially large impacts. For example, there is detailed knowledge about host pathology and mechanisms underlying response for chytridiomycosis in amphibians and white‐nose syndrome in bats, but such information is lacking for other more recently described fungal infections. One such disease is ophidiomycosis, caused by the fungus Ophidiomyces ophidiicola, which has been identified in many species of snakes, yet the biological mechanisms and molecular changes occurring during infection are unknown. To gain this information, we performed a controlled experimental infection in captive Prairie rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis) with O. ophidiicola at two different temperatures: 20 and 26°C. We then compared liver, kidney, and skin transcriptomes to assess tissue‐specific genetic responses to O. ophidiicola infection. Given previous histopathological studies and the fact that snakes are ectotherms, we expected highest fungal activity on skin and a significant impact of temperature on host response. Although we found fungal activity to be localized on skin, most of the differential gene expression occurred in internal tissues. Infected snakes at the lower temperature had the highest host mortality whereas two‐thirds of the infected snakes at the higher temperature survived. Our results suggest that ophidiomycosis is likely a systemic disease with long‐term effects on host response. Our analysis also identified candidate protein coding genes that are potentially involved in host response, providing genetic tools for studies of host response to ophidiomycosis in natural populations.

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Investigating Agreement between Snake Sheds and Skin Swabs in Detection of Ophidiomyces ophidiicola

Cited by 2 publications

References 15 publications

Ophidiomyces ophidiicola detection and infection: a global review on a potential threat to the world’s snake populations

Ophidiomyces ophidiicola detection and infection: a global review on a potential threat to the world’s snake populations

Genetic mechanisms and biological processes underlying host response to ophidiomycosis (snake fungal disease) inferred from tissue‐specific transcriptome analyses

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