For Several Decades Now, Amphibian Species Worldwide Have Been in Decline

question 14

Multiple Choice

For several decades now, amphibian species worldwide have been in decline. A significant proportion of the decline seems to be due to the spread of the chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) . Chytrid sporangia reside within the epidermal cells of infected animals, animals that consequently show areas of sloughed skin. They can also be lethargic, which is expressed through failure to hide and failure to flee. The infection cycle typically takes four to five days, at the end of which zoospores are released from sporangia into the environment. In some amphibian species, mortality rates approach 100%; other species seem able to survive the infection.
When adult amphibian skin harbours populations of the bacterium Janthinobacterium lividum (Jl) , chytrid infection seems to be inhibited. Which of the following represents the best experimental design to test whether this inhibition is real?

• A) Inoculate uninfected amphibians with Jl, and determine whether the amphibians continue to remain uninfected by chytrids.
• B) Inoculate infected amphibians with Jl and determine whether the amphibians recover from infection by chytrids.
• C) Take infected amphibians and assign them to two populations. Leave one population alone; inoculate the other with Jl. Measure the rate at which infection proceeds in both populations.
• D) Take infected amphibians and assign them to two populations. Inoculate one population with a high dose of Jl; inoculate the other with a low dose of Jl. Measure the survival frequency in both populations.

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