ARTÍCULOS CIENTÍFICOS Viáfara-Vega et al. - Batrachochytrium en el Valle del Cauca, Colombia - 81-89 DETECCIÓN DE BATRACHOCHYTRIUM DENDROBATIDIS (CHYTRIDIOMYCOTA) EN LOCALIDADES DEL VALLE DEL CAUCA POR TÉCNICA DE PCR DETECTION OF BATRACHOCHYTRIUM DENDROBATIDIS (CHYRTIDIOMYCOTA) IN LOCALITIES OF VALLE DEL CAUCA BY PCR TECHNIQUE Ronald Andrés Viáfara Vega1,2,*, Fernando Castro Herrera2 y Heiber Cárdenas Henao1,3 1Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Exactas, Departamento de Biología, Universidad del Valle, Santiago de Cali 76001, Colombia. 2Grupo de investigación Laboratorio de Herpetología, Escuela de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad del Valle, Santiago de Cali 76001, Colombia. 3Grupo de Estudios Ecogenéticos y de Biología Molecular, Departamento de Biología, Universidad del Valle, Santiago de Cali 76001, Colombia. *Correspondence:
[email protected] Abstract.— Chytridiomycosis caused by the Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis fungus is one of the most important infectious diseases in amphibians in recent times. Since its discovery in 1999, the fungus has been recorded in multiple locations around the world and has been responsible for the decline of global amphibian populations. The objective of this work was to examine the presence of the fungus in seven locations in Valle del Cauca using the PCR technique. We sampled fungal presence in seven locations in Valle del Cauca by taking amphibian epithelium samples via swabbing. Samples were transported to the laboratory where PCR technique and specific primers were used to detect the presence or absence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis zoospores. Of the 241 samples analyzed, four were positive for the disease, all found in the Chicoral locality in La Cumbre municipality and belonging to the Craugastoridae family: Pristimantis palmeri, P. erythropleura, P.