Host and Aquatic Environment Shape the Amphibian Skin Microbiome but Effects on Downstream Resistance to the Pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis Are Variable.

ABSTRACT: Symbiotic microbial communities play key roles in the health and development of their multicellular hosts. Understanding why microbial communities vary among different host species or individuals is an important step toward understanding the diversity and function of the microbiome. The amphibian skin microbiome may affect resistance to the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Still, the factors that determine the diversity and composition of the amphibian skin microbiome, and therefore may ultimately contribute to disease resistance, are not well understood. We conducted a two-phase experiment to first test how host and environment shape the amphibian skin microbiome, and then test if the microbiome affects or is affected by Bd infection. Most lab experiments testin

SUBMITTER: Jani AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5871691 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature