Composition of symbiotic bacteria as a predictor of survival in Panamanian golden frogs infected with the lethal fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Please go to http://qiita.microbio.me/ and select study 10186 to download files associated with this study). Panamanian Golden Frog probiotic experiment

Symbiotic microbes can dramatically impact host health and fitness, and recent research in a diversity of systems suggests that different symbiont community structures may result in distinct outcomes for the host. In amphibians, some symbiotic skin bacteria produce metabolites that inhibit the growth of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), a cutaneous fungal pathogen that has caused many amphibian population declines and extinctions. Treatment with beneficial bacteria (probiotics) prevents Bd infection in some amphibian species, and provides optimism for conservation of species that are highly susceptible to chytridiomycosis, the disease caused by Bd. In a laboratory experiment, we used Bd-inhibitory bacteria from non Bd-susceptible Panamanian amphibians in a probiotic development trial with Panamanian golden frogs, Atelopus zeteki, a species currently surviving only in captive assurance colonies. Approximately 30% of infected golden frogs survived Bd exposure by either clearing infection or maintaining low Bd loads, but this was not associated with probiotic treatment. Survival was instead correlated with initial composition of the skin bacterial community and metabolites present on the skin. This suggests a strong link between the structure of these symbiotic microbial communities and amphibian host health in the face of Bd exposure.