Activities per year
Abstract
The fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) causes chytridiomycosis, a lethal epizootic disease of amphibians. Rapid identification of the pathogen and biosecurity is essential to prevent its spread, but current laboratory-based tests are time consuming and require specialist equipment. Here, we describe the generation of an IgM monoclonal antibody (mAb), 5C4, specific to Bd as well as the related salamander and newt pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal). The mAb, which binds to a glycoprotein antigen present on the surface of zoospores, sporangia and zoosporangia, was used to develop a lateral-flow assay (LFA) for rapid (15 min) detection of the pathogens. The LFA detects known lineages of Bd and also Bsal, as well as the closely related fungus Homolaphlyctis polyrhiza, but does not detect a wide range of related and unrelated fungi and oomycetes likely to be present in amphibian habitats. When combined with a simple swabbing procedure, the LFA was 100% accurate in detecting the water-soluble 5C4 antigen present in skin, foot and pelvic samples from frogs, newts and salamanders naturally infected with Bd or Bsal. Our results demonstrate the potential of the portable LFA as a rapid qualitative assay for tracking these amphibian pathogens and as an adjunct test to nucleic acid-based detection methods.
Original language | English |
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Number of pages | 1 |
Publication status | Published - May 2017 |
Externally published | Yes |
Event | Zoo and Wildlife Health Conference - Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany Duration: 24 May 2017 → 27 May 2017 http://www.izw-berlin.de/tl_files/downloads/ZWHC2017/ZWHC2017_programme_booklet_FINAL.pdf |
Conference
Conference | Zoo and Wildlife Health Conference |
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Country/Territory | Germany |
City | Berlin |
Period | 24/05/2017 → 27/05/2017 |
Internet address |
Keywords
- lateral flow assay
- Lateral Flow Immunoassay
- immunoassay
- chytrid fungus
- fungal disease
- chytridiomycosis
- Batrachochytrium
- infectious disease
- emerging infectious disease
- antibody
- immunoglobulin
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'Tracking amphibian pathogens using lateral-flow technology'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Activities
- 1 Invited talk
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Tracking amphibian diseases with lateral flow technology
Michael Dillon (Speaker)
25 Jun 2017Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
Prizes
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Gold Award for research into rapid field tests
Dillon, Michael (Recipient), Bowkett, Andrew E (Recipient), Harding, Luke (Recipient), Stevens, Jamie R. (Recipient) & Thornton, Christopher R (Recipient), Nov 2017
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Research output
- 1 Poster
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Development of a mAb library targeting Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis antigens for the field diagnosis of chytridiomycosis.
Dillon, M., Stevens, J. R., Bungard, M. J., Bowkett, A. E., Fisher, M. C. & Thornton, C. R., May 2015.Research output: Contribution to conference › Poster › peer-review
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