Life Sciences Commons^™

Genetic Comparison Of Water Molds From Embryos Of Amphibians Rana Cascadae, Bufo Boreas And Pseudacris Regilla, Kori K. Ault, James E. Johnson, Holly C. Pinkart, R. Steven Wagner

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Water molds that cause the disease saprolegniasis have been implicated in widespread mortality of amphibian embryos. However, because of the limitations of traditional identification methods, water mold species involved in die-offs or utilized in ecological studies often remain unidentified or identified only as Saprolegnia ferax. Furthermore, water mold taxonomy requires revision, so very distinct organisms may all be called S. ferax. Recent DNA-based studies indicate that the diversity of water molds infecting amphibian embryos is significantly higher than what was previously known, but these studies rely on culture methods, which may be biased towards taxa that grow best …