We report the results of pathological, microbiological and molecular investigations used to characterize unidentified skin lesions in palmate newts (Lissotriton helveticus) from Larzac, France. We confirm that the lesions are the result of infection with a novel dermocystidium-like parasite, which i...

These results suggest that the deterministic aspects of the epidemic process of the parasite can be quantitatively demonstrated on a 51-d timescale or longer, whereas transmission on a daily timescale is uncertain....

Chlorine and iodine solutions were effective at inactivating Ichthyophonus spores in vitro. Inactivation in sea water increased directly with halogen concentration and exposure duration, with significant differences (P < 0.05) from controls occurring at all chlorine concentrations and exposure durat...

In vitro viability of Ichthyophonus spp. spores in seawater and freshwater corresponded with the water type of the host from which the spores were isolated. Among Ichthyophonus spp. spores from both marine and freshwater fish hosts (Pacific herring, Clupea pallasii, and rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus m...

We identify and address the causative agents. Many of the pathogens recently implicated in amphibian mortality and morbidity have been fungal or members of a poorly understood group of fungus-like protists, the mesomycetozoans. One mesomycetozoan, Amphibiocystidium ranae, is known to infect several...

We developed an in vitro model to study the cellular and molecular mechanisms of granulomatous inflammation in response to invading pathogens. Ichthyophonus hoferi was used as a target for encapsulation by cultivated leukocytes from the kidney of the rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). The encapsul...

A protist tentatively designated "Pseudoperkinsus tapetis" belonging to the eukaryotic group Ichthyosporea (Mesomycetozoa) was previously isolated from carpet shell clams in Galicia (northwest Spain). In the present study, based on molecular data, a potential P. tapetis specimen was identified from...

Ichthyophonus-like organisms were found in two free-ranging adult spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum) captured within two different vernal ponds in the Virginia Commonwealth University Rice Center for Environmental Life Sciences in Charles City County, Virginia. Histopathologic examination of...

We surveyed the diversity of eukaryotic rDNA in raw sediment samples and in two enrichment cultures. More than half of all clones recovered from the raw sediment samples were of the basidiomycetous fungus Cryptococcus curvatus. Among other clones, phylotypes of eukaryotic parasites, such as Apicompl...

We measured Ichthyophonus sp. prevalence and a series of factors that could contribute to transmission in 16 newt populations during spring 2004. In contrast to our initial hypotheses of trophic transmission, several lines of evidence suggested a role for the amphibian leech (Placobdella picta) in I...