Skin bacterial diversity of Panamanian frogs is associated with host susceptibility and presence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis.

ABSTRACT: Symbiotic bacteria on amphibian skin can inhibit growth of the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) that has caused dramatic population declines and extinctions of amphibians in the Neotropics. It remains unclear how the amphibians' skin microbiota is influenced by environmental bacterial reservoirs, host-associated factors such as susceptibility to pathogens, and pathogen presence in tropical amphibians. We sampled skin bacteria from five co-occurring frog species that differ in Bd susceptibility at one Bd-naive site, and sampled one of the non-susceptible species from Bd-endemic and Bd-naive sites in Panama. We hypothesized that skin bacterial communities (1) would be distinct from the surrounding environment regardless of the host habitat, (2) would differ between Bd susceptible a

SUBMITTER: Rebollar EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4918441 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature