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Bacigalupe LD, Solano‐Iguaran JJ, Longo AV, Gaitán‐Espitia JD, Valenzuela‐Sánchez A, Alvarado‐Rybak M, Azat C. Nor climate nor human impact factors: Chytrid infection shapes the skin bacterial communities of an endemic amphibian in a biodiversity hotspot. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e11249. [PMID: 38590552 PMCID: PMC10999949 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2023] [Accepted: 03/27/2024] [Indexed: 04/10/2024] Open
Abstract
The bacterial communities of the amphibian skin (i.e., the bacteriome) are critical to the host's innate immune system. However, it is unclear how different drivers can alter this function by modulating the bacteriome's structure. Our aim was to assess the extent to which different host attributes and extrinsic factors influence the structure of the bacterial communities of the skin. Skin bacterial diversity was examined in 148 individuals of the four-eyed frog (Pleurodema thaul) from 16 localities spanning almost 1800 km in latitude. The richness and beta diversity of bacterial families and the richness and abundance of Bd-inhibitory bacterial genera were used to describe their structure. Predictors associated with the host (developmental stage, genetic lineage, individual Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis [Bd] infection status) and the landscape (current climate, degree of anthropogenic disturbance) were used in the statistical modeling in an information theoretical approach. Bd infection and host developmental stage were the only predictors affecting bacteriome richness, with Bd+ individuals and postmetamorphic stages (adults and juveniles) having higher richness than Bd- ones and tadpoles. High diversity in Bd+ individuals is not driven by bacterial genera with known anti-Bd properties. Beta diversity was not affected by Bd infection and was mainly a consequence of bacterial family turnover rather than nestedness. Finally, for those bacterial genera known to have inhibitory effects on chytrid, Bd+ individuals had a slightly higher diversity than Bd- ones. Our study confirms an association between Bd infection and the host developmental stage with the bacterial communities of the skin of P. thaul. Unexpectedly, macroclimate and human impact factors do not seem to play a role in shaping the amphibian skin microbiome. Our study exemplifies that focusing on a single host-parasite system over a large geographic scale can provide essential insights into the factors driving host-parasite-bacteriome interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jaiber J. Solano‐Iguaran
- Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y EvolutivasUniversidad Austral de ChileValdiviaChile
- Departamento de Salud HidrobiológicaInstituto de Fomento PesqueroPuerto MonttChile
| | - Ana V. Longo
- Department of BiologyUniversity of FloridaGainesvilleFloridaUSA
| | - Juan D. Gaitán‐Espitia
- School of Biological Sciences and the SWIRE Institute of Marine ScienceThe University of Hong KongHong KongSARChina
| | | | - Mario Alvarado‐Rybak
- Núcleo de Ciencias Aplicadas en Ciencias Veterinarias y AgronómicasUniversidad de Las AméricasSantiagoChile
| | - Claudio Azat
- Sustainability Research Centre & PhD in Conservation MedicineUniversidad Andres BelloSantiagoChile
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2
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Buttimer S, Moura-Campos D, Greenspan SE, Neely WJ, Ferrante L, Toledo LF, Becker CG. Skin microbiome disturbance linked to drought-associated amphibian disease. Ecol Lett 2024; 27:e14372. [PMID: 38288868 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2023] [Revised: 01/03/2024] [Accepted: 01/08/2024] [Indexed: 02/01/2024]
Abstract
The onset of global climate change has led to abnormal rainfall patterns, disrupting associations between wildlife and their symbiotic microorganisms. We monitored a population of pumpkin toadlets and their skin bacteria in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest during a drought. Given the recognized ability of some amphibian skin bacteria to inhibit the widespread fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), we investigated links between skin microbiome health, susceptibility to Bd and host mortality during a die-off event. We found that rainfall deficit was an indirect predictor of Bd loads through microbiome disruption, while its direct effect on Bd was weak. The microbiome was characterized by fewer putative Bd-inhibitory bacteria following the drought, which points to a one-month lagged effect of drought on the microbiome that may have increased toadlet susceptibility to Bd. Our study underscores the capacity of rainfall variability to disturb complex host-microbiome interactions and alter wildlife disease dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shannon Buttimer
- Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
- One Health Microbiome Center, Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Ecology Institute, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Diego Moura-Campos
- Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
- Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Sasha E Greenspan
- Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA
| | - Wesley J Neely
- Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA
- Department of Biology, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas, USA
| | - Lucas Ferrante
- Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
| | - Luís Felipe Toledo
- Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - C Guilherme Becker
- Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
- One Health Microbiome Center, Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Ecology Institute, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
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3
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Mulla L, Hernández-Gómez O. Wildfires disturb the natural skin microbiota of terrestrial salamanders. Environ Microbiol 2023; 25:2203-2215. [PMID: 37340556 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.16452] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 06/04/2023] [Indexed: 06/22/2023]
Abstract
Environmental change can disturb natural associations between wildlife and microbial symbionts, in many cases to the detriment of host health. We used a North American terrestrial salamander system to assess how the skin microbiota of amphibians responds to wildfires. In northern California's redwood/oak forests, we assessed how recent wildfires affected the skin microbiota of three different salamander species (Taricha sp., Batrachoseps attenuatus, and Ensatina eschscholtzii) over two different sampling seasons in 2018 and 2021. We found species-specific responses to wildfire disturbance on the alpha diversity of the skin microbiota of terrestrial salamanders, although burning in general altered the composition of the skin microbiota. The effect of burning on alpha diversities and body condition indices varied by sampling season, suggesting an additional effect of annual climatic conditions on body condition and skin microbiota response. We tested all salamanders for Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and found four infected individuals in 2018 and none in 2021. Our study documents correlations in the skin microbiota response to an increasing source of disturbance in western North American ecosystems. In addition, our results highlight the need to consider the effects of increased wildfire regimes/intensities and longitudinal effects on wildlife-associated microbiota and animal health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lubna Mulla
- Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, School of Health and Natural Sciences, Dominican University of California, San Rafael, California, USA
| | - Obed Hernández-Gómez
- Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, School of Health and Natural Sciences, Dominican University of California, San Rafael, California, USA
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4
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Ramírez-Barahona S, González-Serrano FM, Martínez-Ugalde E, Soto-Pozos A, Parra-Olea G, Rebollar EA. Host phylogeny and environment shape the diversity of salamander skin bacterial communities. Anim Microbiome 2023; 5:52. [PMID: 37828573 PMCID: PMC10571319 DOI: 10.1186/s42523-023-00271-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 10/03/2023] [Indexed: 10/14/2023] Open
Abstract
The composition and diversity of animal-associated microbial communities are shaped by multiple ecological and evolutionary processes acting at different spatial and temporal scales. Skin microbiomes are thought to be strongly influenced by the environment due to the direct interaction of the host's skin with the external media. As expected, the diversity of amphibian skin microbiomes is shaped by climate and host sampling habitats, whereas phylogenetic effects appear to be weak. However, the relative strength of phylogenetic and environmental effects on salamander skin microbiomes remains poorly understood. Here, we analysed sequence data from 1164 adult salamanders of 44 species to characterise and compare the diversity and composition of skin bacteria. We assessed the relative contribution of climate, host sampling habitat, and host phylogeny to the observed patterns of bacterial diversity. We found that bacterial alpha diversity was mainly associated with host sampling habitat and climate, but that bacterial beta diversity was more strongly associated with host taxonomy and phylogeny. This phylogenetic effect predominantly occurred at intermediate levels of host divergence (0-50 Mya). Our results support the importance of environmental factors shaping the diversity of salamander skin microbiota, but also support host phylogenetic history as a major factor shaping these bacterial communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Ramírez-Barahona
- Departamento de Botánica, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, Mexico
| | - F M González-Serrano
- Centro de Ciencias Genómicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico
| | - E Martínez-Ugalde
- Centro de Ciencias Genómicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico
| | - A Soto-Pozos
- Centro de Ciencias Genómicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico
- Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, Mexico
| | - G Parra-Olea
- Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, Mexico
| | - E A Rebollar
- Centro de Ciencias Genómicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico.
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5
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Pereida-Aguilar JC, Barragán-Vargas C, Domínguez-Sánchez C, Álvarez-Martínez RC, Acevedo-Whitehouse K. Bacterial dysbiosis and epithelial status of the California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) in the Gulf of California. INFECTION, GENETICS AND EVOLUTION : JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY AND EVOLUTIONARY GENETICS IN INFECTIOUS DISEASES 2023; 113:105474. [PMID: 37356747 DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2023.105474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2023] [Revised: 06/11/2023] [Accepted: 06/22/2023] [Indexed: 06/27/2023]
Abstract
Despite the high incidence of urogenital carcinoma (UGC) in California sea lions stranded along California, no UGC has been reported in other areas of their distribution; however, cell morphologies typical of premalignant states have been found. Risk factors for UGC include high of organochlorines and infection with a gammaherpesvirus, OtHV-1, but the importance of the bacteriome for epithelial status remains unknown. We characterized the genital bacteriome of adult female California sea lions along their distribution in the Gulf of California and examined whether the diversity and abundance of the bacteriome varied spatially, whether there were detectable differences in the bacteriome between healthy and altered epithelia, and whether the bacteriome was different in California sea lions infected with OtHV-1 or papillomavirus. We detected 2270 ASVs in the genital samples, of which 35 met the criteria for inclusion in the core bacteriome. Fusobacteriia and Clostridia were present in all samples, at high abundances, and Actinobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, and Campylobacteria were also well-represented. Alpha diversity and abundance of the California sea lion genital bacteriome varied geographically. The abundance of bacterial ASVs varied depending on the genital epithelial status and inflammation, with differences driven by classes Fusobacteriia, Clostridia, Campylobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria. Alpha diversity and abundance were lowest in samples in which OtHV-1 was detected, and highest those with papillomavirus. Our study is the first investigation of how the bacteriome is related to epithelial status in a wild marine species prone to developing cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan Carlos Pereida-Aguilar
- Unit for Basic and Applied Microbiology, School of Natural Sciences, Autonomous University of Queretaro, Santiago de Queretaro 76146, Mexico
| | - Cecilia Barragán-Vargas
- Unit for Basic and Applied Microbiology, School of Natural Sciences, Autonomous University of Queretaro, Santiago de Queretaro 76146, Mexico
| | - Carlos Domínguez-Sánchez
- Unit for Basic and Applied Microbiology, School of Natural Sciences, Autonomous University of Queretaro, Santiago de Queretaro 76146, Mexico
| | - Roberto Carlos Álvarez-Martínez
- Unit for Basic and Applied Microbiology, School of Natural Sciences, Autonomous University of Queretaro, Santiago de Queretaro 76146, Mexico
| | - Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse
- Unit for Basic and Applied Microbiology, School of Natural Sciences, Autonomous University of Queretaro, Santiago de Queretaro 76146, Mexico.
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6
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Gajewski Z, Johnson LR, Medina D, Crainer WW, Nagy CM, Belden LK. Skin bacterial community differences among three species of co-occurring Ranid frogs. PeerJ 2023; 11:e15556. [PMID: 37465150 PMCID: PMC10351513 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.15556] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2023] [Accepted: 05/23/2023] [Indexed: 07/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Skin microbial communities are an essential part of host health and can play a role in mitigating disease. Host and environmental factors can shape and alter these microbial communities and, therefore, we need to understand to what extent these factors influence microbial communities and how this can impact disease dynamics. Microbial communities have been studied in amphibian systems due to skin microbial communities providing some resistance to the amphibian chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. However, we are only starting to understand how host and environmental factors shape these communities for amphibians. In this study, we examined whether amphibian skin bacterial communities differ among host species, host infection status, host developmental stage, and host habitat. We collected skin swabs from tadpoles and adults of three Ranid frog species (Lithobates spp.) at the Mianus River Gorge Preserve in Bedford, New York, USA, and used 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to determine bacterial community composition. Our analysis suggests amphibian skin bacterial communities change across host developmental stages, as has been documented previously. Additionally, we found that skin bacterial communities differed among Ranid species, with skin communities on the host species captured in streams or bogs differing from the communities of the species captured on land. Thus, habitat use of different species may drive differences in host-associated microbial communities for closely-related host species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary Gajewski
- Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, Virginia, United States
| | - Leah R. Johnson
- Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, Virginia, United States
- Department of Statistics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, Virginia, United States
| | - Daniel Medina
- Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, Virginia, United States
| | - William W. Crainer
- Department of Animal Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States
| | | | - Lisa K. Belden
- Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, Virginia, United States
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7
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Hill AJ, Grisnik M, Walker DM. Bacterial Skin Assemblages of Sympatric Salamanders Are Primarily Shaped by Host Genus. MICROBIAL ECOLOGY 2022:10.1007/s00248-022-02127-0. [PMID: 36318280 DOI: 10.1007/s00248-022-02127-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2022] [Accepted: 10/18/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Bacterial assemblages on the skins of amphibians are known to influence pathogen resistance and other important physiological functions in the host. Host-specific factors and the environment play significant roles in structuring skin assemblages. This study used high-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing and multivariate analyses to examine differences in skin-bacterial assemblages from 246 salamanders belonging to three genera in the lungless family Plethodontidae along multiple spatial gradients. Composition and α- and β-diversity of bacterial assemblages were defined, indicator species were identified for each host group, and the relative influences of host- versus environment-specific ecological factors were evaluated. At the broadest spatial scale, host genus, host species, and sampling site were predictive of skin assemblage structure, but host genus and species were more influential after controlling for the marginal effects of site, as well as nestedness of site. Furthermore, assemblage similarity within each host genus did not change with increasing geographic distance. At the smallest spatial scale, site-specific climate analyses revealed different relationships to climatic variables for each of the three genera, and these relationships were determined by host ecomode. Variation in bacterial assemblages of terrestrial hosts correlated with landscape-level climatic variability, and this pattern decayed with increasing water dependence of the host. Results from this study highlight host-specific considerations for researchers studying wildlife diseases in co-occurring, yet ecologically divergent, species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aubree J Hill
- Department of Biology, Tennessee Technological University, 1100 North Dixie Avenue, Box 5063, Cookeville, TN, 38505, USA.
| | - Matthew Grisnik
- Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Tennessee State University, 3500 John Merritt Blvd, Nashville, TN, 37209, USA
| | - Donald M Walker
- Department of Biology, Middle Tennessee State University, 1672 Greenland Drive, Murfreesboro, TN, 37132, USA
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8
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Wuerthner VP, Hua J, Hernández‐Gómez O. Life stage and proximity to roads shape the skin microbiota of eastern newts (Notophthalmus viridescens). Environ Microbiol 2022; 24:3954-3965. [PMID: 35355399 PMCID: PMC9790580 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.15986] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2021] [Revised: 03/20/2022] [Accepted: 03/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Host-associated microbiomes play an essential role in the health of organisms, including immune system activation, metabolism and energy uptake. It is well established that microbial communities differ depending on the life stage and natural history of the organism. However, the effects of life stage and natural history on microbial communities may also be influenced by human activities. We investigated the effects of amphibian life stage (terrestrial eft vs. aquatic adult) and proximity to roadways on newt skin bacterial communities. We found that the eft and adult life stages differed in bacterial community composition; however, the effects of roads on community composition were more evident in the terrestrial eft stage compared to the aquatic adult stage. Terrestrial efts sampled close to roads possessed richer communities than those living further away from the influence of roads. When accounting for amplicon sequence variants with predicted antifungal capabilities, in the adult life stage, we observed a decrease in anti-fungal bacteria with distance to roads. In contrast, in the eft stage, we found an increase in anti-fungal bacteria with distance to roads. Our results highlight the need to consider the effects of human activities when evaluating how host-associated microbiomes differ across life stages of wildlife.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jessica Hua
- Department of Biological SciencesBinghamton UniversityBinghamtonNY,Department of Forest and Wildlife EcologyUniversity of Wisconsin‐MadisonMadisonWI
| | - Obed Hernández‐Gómez
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Policy, and ManagementUniversity of California‐BerkeleyBerkeleyCA,Department of Natural Sciences and MathematicsDominican University of CaliforniaSan RafaelCA
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