Veronica Saenz on the development of amphibian immune defenses

University of Pittsburgh Department of Biological Sciences Presents

E&E Wednesday Noon Seminars 2017-2018

Graduate student Veronica Saenz - University of Pittsburgh

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is a fungus that causes the disease chytridiomycosis, responsible for hundreds of amphibians declines around the world. Climate change alters host-disease dynamics especially in ectothermic hosts like amphibians that are particularly susceptible to temperature shifts. I will test the impact of multiple stressors including desiccation and higher temperatures on the development of amphibian immune defenses. I hypothesize that frogs that develop in a pond under conditions predicted by climate change (i.e. less precipitation and higher temperatures), will metamorphose with a reduced/compromised innate immune system. The key aims of this project are to: (1) Determine how pond drying affect an amphibian’s ability to produce cutaneous immune defenses and susceptibility to Bd infection (2) Determine the effects of a higher temperature during larval development on L. pipiens AMPs production and composition and subsequent susceptibility to Bd infection.

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

A219B Langley Hall

12:00 PM Seminar

Date

28 Mar 2018

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E&E Seminars

Location

A219B Langley Hall