Homology-mediated transformation of frog-killing fungus <i>Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis</i> illuminates chytrid development and pathogenesis
Bibliographic record
Abstract
The chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis ( Bd ) infects amphibians and causes chytridiomycosis, a disease linked to global amphibian decline. Despite its ecological importance, Bd has lacked robust tools for genetic manipulation, limiting molecular insights into its development and pathogenicity. Here, we establish homologous recombination as a system for stable transformation of Bd , enabling targeted chromosomal integration of exogenous DNA, endogenous protein tagging, and targeted gene deletion. We use this system to visualize Bd infection in live amphibians to enhance understanding of host invasion and pathogenesis. We also use this system to test a previous hypothesis regarding the role of chitin synthases in Bd development by tagging the endogenous chitin synthase Myo17D and observing its rapid relocalization to the plasma membrane during de novo cell wall assembly. Finally, we use our homologous recombination approach for targeted gene deletion by knocking out the URA3 locus, and confirm the resulting genotype and phenotype via sequencing and drug resistance assays. This genetic transformation system offers a foundational tool for molecular studies of Bd , advancing our capacity to dissect molecular mechanisms of chytrid pathogenesis.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".