Microbial community dynamics and effect of environmental microbial reservoirs on red-backed salamanders (Plethodon cinereus).

ABSTRACT: Beneficial cutaneous bacteria on amphibians can protect against the lethal disease chytridiomycosis, which has devastated many amphibian species and is caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. We describe the diversity of bacteria on red-backed salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) in the wild and the stability of these communities through time in captivity using culture-independent Illumina 16S rRNA gene sequencing. After field sampling, salamanders were housed with soil from the field or sterile media. The captive conditions led to different trajectories of bacterial communities. Eight OTUs present on >90% of salamanders in the field, through time, and in both treatments were defined as the core community, suggesting that some bacteria are closely associated with the host and are

SUBMITTER: Loudon AH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3960541 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature