Local phenotypic variation in amphibian-killing fungus predicts

Amphibians are the most threatened animals of the world. Habitat loss and chytridiomicosys are considered the main causes for their declines. Chytridiomycosis is a disease caused in anurans by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), detected worldwide. In Brazil it was registered all over the Atlantic rainforest and in some localities of the Cerrado and Amazonia. Several factors influence this disease dynamics, such as intrinsic factors related to Bd: different lineages, morphology, virulence, and growth rate. Given these factors, the present study aimed to genotype and analyze Bd strain¿s size from an elevational range, and verify if these factors were correlated to Bd size, prevalence, infection load, growth rate, and elevation. We isolated and genotyped five strains, and quantified growth rates. We developed two indexes related to Bd size, prevalence, and infection load. The five strains were Bd-GPL2. We found size variation and correlations between Bd size, prevalence, and infection load, but not with growth rate. Prevalence and infection load did not increase with elevation. The size and infection indexes were correlated. The phenotypic variation can be considered as a predictor to disease dynamics on environment. It can be used in other studies as a tool to efficiently (cheap and fast) identify areas where the fungus can develop faster and be more deleterious to amphibian populations (AU)