Why me!? Investigating virulence in an emerging fungal pathogen that strikes some dragons.

Speaker: Angela Webb
Eastern water dragons (Intellagama lesueurii) live it up in Brisbane’s metropolis – but all this sunbaking in city parks may be catching up with them. In recent years, dragons at Roma St Parklands have been fighting off an emerging fungal disease. The culprit is Nannizziopsis barbatae, a keratinophilic fungal pathogen, meaning it feeds on keratin – one of the key building blocks of a reptile’s tough, protective skin. The disease causes crusty yellow-brown skin lesions, typically on the dragon’s underside, which progress to necrosis and can be fatal. Our lab at UQ has identified the fungus in the soil at multiple sites across south-east Queensland, yet dragons in some of these regions remain disease-free. So, what’s driving infections? How does it spread? Is it a matter of time, or place? These are some of the questions my research aims to address. Using a systems biology approach, I’m investigating the complex interactions between the environment, individual and pathogen to understand what influences Nb disease virulence, and importantly – what role our growing city may play in tipping the balance.

Angela is a PhD student at UQ who found her way to this project after stumbling on an honours project which piqued her interest: Population dynamics in the Ibis.
Initially the idea of working on such an iconic and controversial animal as the “bin chicken” was what intrigued her and fostered her affection for urban animals, and this then led to her PhD project with another, scalier, Brissy icon.

Public is welcome to attend.