Captive Atelopus zeteki 16S amplicon reads

In this study, We subsampled the cutaneous microbiome of 200 animals from all existing genetic lines of surplus-bred Panamanian golden frogs held at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. The microbial DNA was extracted and the 16S rRNA gene was amplified using PCR in order to provide a culture-independent evaluation of the most abundant bacteria on the frog skin using the Earth Microbiome Project protocol. Using the 16S data generated from the above survey, we designed two probiotic treatments to control chytridiomycosis caused by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) on infected Panamanian golden frogs (Atelopus zeteki), a species that is thought to be extinct in the wild due to Bd. The first approach disrupted the existing skin microbe community with antibiotics then exposed the frogs to a core golden frog skin microbe (Diaphorobacter sp.) that we had genetically modified to produce high titers of violacein, a known antifungal compound, in culture. After probiotic treatment and exposure to Bd, we sampled and the cutaneous bacterial community of the each individual and characterized their microbiome using the 16S rRNA Earth Microbiome Project protocol.