Increased Numbers of Culturable Inhibitory Bacterial Taxa May Mitigate the Effects of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in Australian Wet Tropics Frogs.

ABSTRACT: Symbiotic bacterial communities resident on amphibian skin can benefit their hosts. For example, antibiotic production by community members can control the pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) and it is possible for these community members to be used as probiotics to reduce infection levels. In the early 1990s, the emergence of Bd caused declines and disappearances of frogs in the Australian Wet Tropics; the severity of its effects varied among species and sites. Some species have since recolonized despite enzootic Bd within their populations. This variation in history among species and sites provided an opportunity to investigate the role of anti-fungal cutaneous bacteria in protecting frogs against Bd infection. We collected cutaneous swab sampl

SUBMITTER: Bell SC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6058028 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature