Title
Widespread elevational occurrence of antifungal bacteria in Andean Amphibians decimated by disease: A complex role for skin symbionts in defense against chytridiomycosis
Date Issued
14 March 2018
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Flechas S.V.
Burkart D.
Hooven N.D.
Townsend J.
Vredenburg V.T.
Universidad Internacional de Florida
Publisher(s)
Frontiers Media S.A.
Abstract
Emerging infectious disease is a growing threat to global health, and recent discoveries reveal that the microbiota dwelling on and within hosts can play an important role in health and disease. To understand the capacity of skin bacteria to protect amphibian hosts from the fungal disease chytridiomycosis caused by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), we isolated 192 bacterial morphotypes from the skin of 28 host species of frogs (families Bufonidae, Centrolenidae, Hemiphractidae, Hylidae, Leptodactylidae, Strabomantidae, and Telmatobiidae) collected from the eastern slopes of the Peruvian Andes (540-3,865 m a.s.l.) in the Kosñipata Valley near Manu National Park, a site where we previously documented the collapse of montane frog communities following chytridiomycosis epizootics. We obtained isolates through agar culture from skin swabs of wild frogs, and identified bacterial isolates by comparing 16S rRNA sequences against the GenBank database using BLAST. We identified 178 bacterial strains of 38 genera, including 59 bacterial species not previously reported from any amphibian host. The most common bacterial isolates were species of Pseudomonas, Paenibacillus, Chryseobacterium, Comamonas, Sphingobacterium, and Stenotrophomonas. We assayed the anti-fungal abilities of 133 bacterial isolates from 26 frog species. To test whether cutaneous bacteria might inhibit growth of the fungal pathogen, we used a local Bd strain isolated from the mouthparts of stream-dwelling tadpoles (Hypsiboas gladiator, Hylidae). We quantified Bd-inhibition in vitro with co-culture assays. We found 20 bacterial isolates that inhibited Bd growth, including three isolates not previously known for such inhibitory abilities. Anti-Bd isolates occurred on aquatic and terrestrial breeding frogs across a wide range of elevations (560-3,695 m a.s.l.). The inhibitory ability of anti-Bd isolates varied considerably. The proportion of anti-Bd isolates was lowest at mid-elevations (6%), where amphibian declines have been steepest, and among hosts that are highly susceptible to chytridiomycosis (0-14%). Among non-susceptible species, two had the highest proportion of anti-Bd isolates (40 and 45%), but one common and non-susceptible species had a low proportion (13%). In conclusion, we show that anti-Bd bacteria are widely distributed elevationally and phylogenetically across frog species that have persisted in a region where chytridiomycosis emerged, caused a devastating epizootic and continues to infect amphibians.
Volume
9
Issue
MAR
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Biología celular, Microbiología
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85043718254
Source
Frontiers in Microbiology
Sponsor(s)
We thank J. Finkle, E. Foreyt, and L. Wyman for field assistance; D. Baquero, M. C. Llanos and A. Shepack for lab assistance; and S. J. Kupferberg and the Catenazzi lab for friendly review prior to submission. We also thank Wayqecha Biological Station for logistic support, and the Ministerio de Agricultura (SERFOR) for collecting permits. This work was funded by Southern Illinois University Carbondale Undergraduate Research Program and startup funds, and by grants from the Asociación para la Conservación de la Cuenca Amazónica, the Rufford Small Grants Foundation, the Chicago Board of Trade Endangered Species Fund, the Foundation Mathey-Dupraz, the Amphibian Specialist Group (AC), and the National Science Foundation (VTV, NSF#11202283 and Belmont Forum project NSF#1633948; https://www.nsf.gov).
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus