ITS1 copy number varies among Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis strains: implications for qPCR estimates of infection intensity from field-collected amphibian skin swabs.

Genomic studies of the amphibian-killing fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, [Bd]) identified three highly divergent genetic lineages, only one of which has a global distribution. Bd strains within these linages show variable genomic content due to differential loss of heterozygosity and recombination. The current quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) protocol to detect the fungus from amphibian skin swabs targets the intergenic transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) region using a TaqMan fluorescent probe specific to Bd.