Environmental and Host Effects on Skin Bacterial Community Composition in Panamanian Frogs.

ABSTRACT: Research on the amphibian skin microbiota has focused on identifying bacterial taxa that deter a pathogenic chytrid fungus, and on describing patterns of microbiota variation. However, it remains unclear how environmental variation affects amphibian skin bacterial communities, and whether the overall functional diversity of the amphibian skin microbiota is associated to such variation. We sampled skin microbial communities from one dendrobatoid frog species across an environmental gradient along the Panama Canal, and from three dendrobatoid frog species before and after the onset of the wet season in one site. We found frog skin microbial alpha diversity to be highest in frogs from sites with low soil pH, but no clear effect of the onset of the wet season. However, we found frog skin micro

SUBMITTER: Varela BJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5826957 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature