Skin sloughing in susceptible and resistant amphibians regulates infection with a fungal pathogen.

ABSTRACT: The fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) has been implicated in amphibian population declines globally. Given that Bd infection is limited to the skin in post-metamorphic amphibians, routine skin sloughing may regulate infection. Skin sloughing has been shown to reduce the number of cultivatable microbes on amphibian skin, and Bd infection increases skin sloughing rates at high loads. However, it is unclear whether species specific differences in skin sloughing patterns could regulate Bd population growth on the skin, and influence subsequent infection dynamics. We exposed five Australian frog species to Bd, and monitored sloughing rates and infection loads over time. Sloughing reduced Bd load on the ventral skin surface, in all five species, despite wide variation in suscep

SUBMITTER: Ohmer MEB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5471217 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature