Moving beyond the host: unravelling the skin microbiome of endangered Costa Rican amphibians

Some neotropical amphibians, including a few species in Costa Rica, were presumed to be “extinct” after dramatic population declines in the late 1980s but have been rediscovered in isolated populations. Such populations seem to have evolved a resistance/tolerance to Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), a fungal pathogen that causes a deadly skin disease and is considered one of the main drivers of worldwide amphibian declines. The skin microbiome is an important component of the host´s innate immune system and is associated with Bd-resistance. However, the way that the bacterial diversity of the skin microbiome confers protection against Bd in surviving species remains unclear. We studied variation in the skin microbiome and the prevalence of putatively anti-Bd bacterial taxa in four co-habiting species in the highlands of the Juan Castro Blanco National Park in Costa Rica using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Lithobates vibicarius, Craugastor escoces, and Isthomohyla rivularis have recen...

新热带两栖类（包括哥斯达黎加的数个物种）在20世纪80年代末出现种群数量骤降后曾被认定为“灭绝”，但后续在孤立种群中被重新发现。这类种群似乎已进化出对蛙壶菌（Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, Bd）的抗性/耐受性；蛙壶菌是一种可引发致命皮肤病的真菌病原体，被认为是全球两栖动物种群下降的主要驱动因素之一。皮肤微生物组是宿主先天免疫系统的重要组成部分，且与抗Bd特性密切相关。然而，存活物种的皮肤微生物组细菌多样性如何赋予其抗Bd保护作用的机制，目前仍不明确。本研究借助16S rRNA扩增子测序技术，对哥斯达黎加胡安·卡斯特罗·布兰科国家公园高地的4种同域共存两栖动物的皮肤微生物组变异情况，以及推定具有抗Bd活性的细菌类群的流行率进行了研究。Lithobates vibicarius、Craugastor escoces与Isthomohyla rivularis这三个物种近期……