Researchers gain an understanding of the biological processes of the chytrid fungus

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have gained a new understanding of the biological processes of the chytrid fungus responsible for a deadly skin disease destroying frog populations worldwide.

Led by cell biologist Lillian Fritz-Laylin, the team reports in a paper published on February 8 in Conventional biology as the actin networks of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) also serve as the “Evaporative Rosetta Stone,” reflecting the loss of cytoskeletal complexity in the fungal kingdom.

“Fungi and animals look so different, but they have a very close relationship,” says Fritz-Laylin, whose laboratory studies the movement of cells, which is a key activity. the promotion and prevention of many human diseases. “This project, the work of Sarah Prostak in my laboratory, shows that during early fungal evolution, fungi may have had cells that looked something like our cells, and could crawling around the way our cells do. “

Bd-infested chttrids contain more than 1,000 species of deep-root fungi on the phylogenetic tree, or evolution. The researchers used chytrids, which share features of animal cells lost in yeast and other fungi, to study the evolution of cytoskeleton actin, which helps cells maintain their shape and organization and transfer, share and perform other critical tasks.

Prostak, a research associate in the Fritz-Laylin laboratory, is the lead author of the paper, which first wrote her biology dissertation with undergraduate honors, expanded and completed the research after graduation. Other authors are Margaret Titus, professor of genetics, cell biology and development at the University of Minnesota, and Kristyn Robinson, UMass Amherst Ph.D. candidate in the Fritz-Laylin laboratory.

Bd is closer to animal cells than the most commonly studied fungi so it can tell us a lot about animal offspring and the fungus line and can also provide a lot of insight into human actin networks. We can use it to study animal-like regulation in a similar system instead of studying it in animal cells, which is quite complicated by the fact that there are so many actin regulators in animal cells. “

Sarah Prostak, Research Associate, Lead Author

The research team used a combination of genomics and a fluorescence microscope to show that actin cytoskeleton chytrids have both animal and yeast cell properties. “The evolution and proliferation of these complex actin regulatory networks remain key issues in evolutionary and cellular biology,” the paper states.

The biologists studied the two stages of development in the life cycle of Bd. In the first stage, Bd zoos swim with flagellum and build actin structures similar to those in animal cells, including pseudopods that move the organisms forward. In the reproductive stage, Bd sporangia accumulate actin shells, as well as actin fragments, which are similar to those of yeast.

The chytridiomycosis disease, caused by Bd, infects the skin of frogs, toads and other amphibians, eventually leading to heart failure after fluid regulation. This disease has been due to massive biodiversity loss, including dozens of population declines and extinct over the past 50 years, although there has been debate over how much sex affected by this disease.

UMass Amherst biologists say the Bd actin structures they observed play an important role in causing the disease. “This model suggests that actin networks underlie rapid movement and growth that are fundamental to the pathology and pathogenicity of Bd,” the paper concludes.

Prostak, an animal lover drawn to the Fritz-Laylin laboratory because of its focus on pathogens, hopes their research will continue to advance their knowledge of Bd to measures that delay the lethal damage of chytridiomycosis.

“Determining Bd’s basic biology hopes to give us an insight into future disease mitigation,” Prostak says.