Host microbiome responses to the Snake Fungal Disease pathogen (Ophidiomyces ophidiicola) are driven by changes in microbial richness.

ABSTRACT: Dermatophytic pathogens are a source of disturbance to the host microbiome, but the temporal progression of these disturbances is unclear. Here, we determined how Snake Fungal Disease, caused by Ophidiomyces ophidiicola, resulted in disturbance to the host microbiome. To assess disease effects on the microbiome, 22 Common Watersnakes (Nerodia sipedon) were collected and half were inoculated with O. ophidiicola. Epidermal swabs were collected weekly for use in microbiome and pathogen load characterization. For the inoculated treatment only, we found a significant effect of disease progression on microbial richness and Shannon diversity consistent with the intermediate disturbance hypothesis. When explicitly accounting for differences in assemblage richness, we found that β-diversity among s

SUBMITTER: Romer AS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8866498 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature