Joyce E. Longcore is a mycologist and an associate research professor at the University of Maine. She is most well known for first culturing and describing Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis which is a species of Chytridiomycota fungi that was the first to be known to attack vertebrates. [1] She continues to collect and isolate Chytridiomycota cultures for other researches to use for their own studies. [2]
In 1960, Longcore received her B.S. in Biology from the University of Michigan. [3] and then worked under Dr. Frederick K. Sparrow for a year as a postgraduate. [4] Advised by Dr. Robert Johns, former PhD student of Sparrow, she then earned a M.A. from Indiana University in 1963. [4] Longcore then went back to the University of Michigan to work for Sparrow before marrying and becoming a full-time mother to her two sons. [5] Nearly 20 years later in 1984, Longcore entered graduate school at the University of Maine with Dr. Richard Homola, a basidiomycetes expert, and received her PhD in 1991. [3]
Throughout 1996 and into 1997, the National Zoological Park in Washington, DC was tracking large scale die offs of poison dart frogs due to an unknown skin disease. [6] The Zoo sent Longcore electron micrographs that had been taken of the diseased frogs' skin and she recognised them to be Chytridiomycota. [5] Up until that point Chytridiomycota had only ever been observed as saprotrophs or parasites of microscopic organisms, not vertebrates. This discovery led to the research that Longcore and her colleges would publish in 1999 describing this species of chytrid, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis [7] .
In 2012, Longcore was elected as a fellow to the American Association for the Advancement of Science. [2] In 2017, Longcore, along with colleagues Elaine Lamirande, Don Nichols, and Allan Pessier, received The Golden Goose Award for isolating and describing Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. [5]
Chytridiomycota are a division of zoosporic organisms in the kingdom Fungi, informally known as chytrids. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek χυτρίδιον, meaning "little pot", describing the structure containing unreleased zoöspores. Chytrids are one of the earliest diverging fungal lineages, and their membership in kingdom Fungi is demonstrated with chitin cell walls, a posterior whiplash flagellum, absorptive nutrition, use of glycogen as an energy storage compound, and synthesis of lysine by the α-amino adipic acid (AAA) pathway.
Since the 1980s, decreases in amphibian populations, including population decline and localized mass extinctions, have been observed in locations all over the world. These declines are known as one of the most critical threats to global biodiversity.
Chytridiomycosis is an infectious disease in amphibians, caused by the chytrid fungi Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans. Chytridiomycosis has been linked to dramatic population declines or extinctions of amphibian species in western North America, Central America, South America, eastern Australia, east Africa (Tanzania), and Dominica and Montserrat in the Caribbean. Much of the New World is also at risk of the disease arriving within the coming years. The fungus is capable of causing sporadic deaths in some amphibian populations and 100% mortality in others. No effective measure is known for control of the disease in wild populations. Various clinical signs are seen by individuals affected by the disease. A number of options are possible for controlling this disease-causing fungus, though none has proved to be feasible on a large scale. The disease has been proposed as a contributing factor to a global decline in amphibian populations that apparently has affected about 30% of the amphibian species of the world. Some research found evidence insufficient for linking chytrid fungi and chytridiomycosis to global amphibian declines, but more recent research establishes a connection and attributes the spread of the disease to its transmission through international trade routes into native ecosystems.
Atelopus is a large genus of Bufonidae, commonly known as harlequin frogs or toads, from Central and South America, ranging as far north as Costa Rica and as far south as Bolivia. Atelopus species are small, generally brightly colored, and diurnal. Most species are associated with mid-to-high elevation streams.
Frogs have been used in animal tests throughout the history of biomedical science.
The boreal toad is the nominate subspecies of the western toad. They are commonly found in the Southern Rocky Mountains, and their population has recently been on the decline due to an emerging amphibian disease, chytrid fungus. The boreal toad is currently listed as an endangered species by Colorado and New Mexico. It is known in Colorado as the only alpine species of toad.
Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, also known as Bd or the amphibian chytrid fungus, is a fungus that causes the disease chytridiomycosis in amphibians.
Atelopus varius, the Costa Rican variable harlequin toad or clown frog, is a small Neotropical true toad from the family Bufonidae. Once ranging from Costa Rica to Panama, A. varius is now listed as critically endangered and has been reduced to a single remnant population near Quepos, Costa Rica and has only relict populations in western Panama (IUCN). Recent variation in air temperature, precipitation, stream flow patterns, and the subsequent spread of a pathogenic chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) linked to global climate change have been the leading cause of decline for A. varius. A. zeteki has been considered a subspecies of A. varius, but is now generally considered a separate species.
A panzootic is an epizootic that spreads across a large region, or even worldwide. The equivalent in human populations is called a pandemic.
Rhizophydiales are an important group of chytrid fungi. They are found in soil as well as marine and fresh water habitats where they function as parasites and decomposers.
The Guajira stubfoot toad or Carrikeri harlequin frog is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is about 5 cm (2.0 in) long and typically black, though some populations have orange coloration. This species is endemic to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range of northern Colombia. It is critically endangered because of the chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, and habitat destruction due to agriculture. The species had not been seen from 1994 until it was rediscovered in early 2008.
Colostethus panamansis, also known as the Panama rocket frog or (ambiguously) common rocket frog, is a species of poison dart frog. It is found in northwestern Colombia and Panama. It is one of the best studied poison dart frogs; however, until 2004 Colostethus panamansis was considered a synonym of Colostethus inguinalis, and consequently the older literature uses that name.
Agalychnis lemur, the lemur leaf frog or lemur frog, is a species of frog in the subfamily Phyllomedusinae. It is found in Costa Rica, Panama, and adjacent northwestern Colombia. It is classed as Critically Endangered and threatened by the fungal disease chytridiomycosis.
The green-eyed treefrog is a species of Australasian treefrog in the subfamily Pelodryadinae that occurs in the Wet Tropics of Australia.
Ranavirus is a genus of viruses, in the family Iridoviridae. There are six other genera of viruses within the family Iridoviridae, but Ranavirus is the only one that includes viruses that are infectious to amphibians and reptiles. Additionally, it is one of the three genera within this family which infect teleost fishes, along with Lymphocystivirus and Megalocytivirus.
Janthinobacterium lividum is an aerobic, Gram-negative, soil-dwelling bacterium that has a distinctive dark-violet color, due to a compound called violacein, which is produced when glycerol is metabolized as a carbon source. Violacein has antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal properties. Its antifungal properties are of particular interest, since J. lividum is found on the skin of certain amphibians, including the red-backed salamander, where it prevents infection by the devastating chytrid fungus.
The golden toad is an extinct species of true toad that was once abundant in a small, high-altitude region of about 4 square kilometres (1.5 sq mi) in an area north of the city of Monteverde, Costa Rica. It was endemic to elfin cloud forest. Also called the Monte Verde toad, Alajuela toad and orange toad, it is commonly considered the "poster child" for the amphibian decline crisis. This toad was first described in 1966 by herpetologist Jay Savage. The last sighting of a single male golden toad was on 15 May 1989, and it has since been classified as extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Karen R. Lips is a Professor of Biology at University of Maryland, College Park. Lips' work in the 1990s eventually contributed to the identification of the chytrid fungus as the primary cause of frog decline worldwide.
Lee Berger, is an Australian biologist and veterinarian, who discovered during her PhD that the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis was responsible for the decline and extinction of hundreds of amphibian species.
Jessica Hua is an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Binghamton University, NY. In addition Hua is the Director for the Center for Integrated Watershed Studies at Binghamton University which focuses on understanding watersheds and the human influences on them through research. She is a herpetologist and oversees her own lab, The Hua Lab, where they focus on ecological interactions, evolutionary processes and ecological-evolutionary feedbacks. Hua's background has led to her appreciation of education with coming from a refugee family who "epitomizes the concept of the American Dream". Her research aims to help others gain opportunities while also establishing a lab that is inclusive and diverse. Hua also enjoys a variety of sports and plays disc golf professionally since 2016.
