"Efficacy of Plant-derived Fungicides at Inhibiting Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans Growth" Dataset and Code

The emerging fungal amphibian pathogen, <em>Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans </em>(<em>Bsal</em>), is currently spreading across Europe and given its estimated invasion potential, has the capacity to decimate salamander populations worldwide. Fungicides are a promising <em>in situ </em>management strategy for <em>Bsal</em> due to their ability to treat the environment and infected individuals. However, antifungal drugs or pesticides could adversely affect the environment and non-target hosts, thus identifying safe, effective candidate fungicides for <em>in situ </em>treatment is needed. Here, we estimated the inhibitory fungicidal efficacy of five plant-derived fungicides (thymol, curcumin, allicin, 6-gingerol, and Pond Pimafix®) and one chemical fungicide (Virkon® Aquatic) against <em>Bsal </em>zoospores <em>in vitro</em>. We used a broth microdilution method in 48-well plates to test the efficacy of six concentrations per fungicide on <em>Bsal </em>zoospore viability. Following plate incubation, we performed cell viability assays and agar plate growth trials to estimate the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of each fungicide. All six fungicides exhibited inhibitory and fungicidal effects against <em>Bsal </em>growth, with estimated MIC concentrations ranging from 60 to 0.156 μg/mL for the different compounds. Allicin showed the greatest efficacy (i.e., lowest MIC and MFC) against<em> Bsal </em>zoospores followed by curcumin, Pond Pimafix®, thymol, 6-gingerol, and Virkon® Aquatic, respectively. Our results provide evidence that plant-derived fungicides are effective at inhibiting and killing <em>Bsal </em>zoospores <em>in vitro </em>and may be useful for <em>in situ </em>treatment. Additional studies are needed to estimate the efficacy of these fungicides at inactivating <em>Bsal</em> in the environment and treating <em>Bsal</em>-infected amphibians.