Early-Life Diet Affects Host Microbiota and Later-Life Defenses Against Parasites in Frogs.

ABSTRACT: Food resources can affect the health of organisms by altering their symbiotic microbiota and affecting energy reserves for host defenses against parasites. Different diets can vary in their macronutrient content and therefore they might favor certain bacterial communities of the host and affect the development and maintenance of the immune system, such as the inflammatory or antibody responses. Thus, testing the effect of diet, especially for animals with wide diet breadths, on host-associated microbiota and defenses against parasites might be important in determining infection and disease risk. Here, we test whether the early-life diet of Cuban tree frogs (Osteopilus septentrionalis) affects early- and later-life microbiota as well as later-life defenses against skin-penetrating, gut worm

SUBMITTER: Knutie SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5886343 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature