Factors Influencing Bacterial and Fungal Skin Communities of Montane Salamanders of Central Mexico

García-Sánchez, Julio César; Arredondo-Centeno, José; Segovia-Ramírez, María Guadalupe; Olvera, Ariadna Marcela Tenorio; Parra‐Olea, Gabriela; Vredenburg, Vance T.; Rovito, Sean M.

doi:10.1007/s00248-022-02049-x

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 84 publications

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“…The dominant phyla identified within our samples are typically present in amphibian skin microbiota ( Kueneman et al, 2014 ; Bletz et al, 2016 ; García-Sánchez et al, 2022 ). Despite being phylogenetically close ( Zhang et al, 2008 ; Recuero et al, 2014 ) and inhabiting the same pond in the wild, alpine and palmate newts had distinct skin bacterial communities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strong restructuration of skin microbiota during captivity challenges ex-situ conservation of amphibians

Fieschi‐Méric

Leeuwen²,

Hopkins³

et al. 2023

Front. Microbiol.

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In response to the current worldwide amphibian extinction crisis, conservation instances have encouraged the establishment of ex-situ collections for endangered species. The resulting assurance populations are managed under strict biosecure protocols, often involving artificial cycles of temperature and humidity to induce active and overwintering phases, which likely affect the bacterial symbionts living on the amphibian skin. However, the skin microbiota is an important first line of defense against pathogens that can cause amphibian declines, such as the chytrid Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Determining whether current husbandry practices for assurance populations might deplete amphibians from their symbionts is therefore essential to conservation success. Here, we characterize the effect of the transitions from the wild to captivity, and between aquatic and overwintering phases, on the skin microbiota of two newt species. While our results confirm differential selectivity of skin microbiota between species, they underscore that captivity and phase-shifts similarly affect their community structure. More specifically, the translocation ex-situ is associated with rapid impoverishment, decrease in alpha diversity and strong species turnover of bacterial communities. Shifts between active and overwintering phases also cause changes in the diversity and composition of the microbiota, and on the prevalence of Bd-inhibitory phylotypes. Altogether, our results suggest that current husbandry practices strongly restructure the amphibian skin microbiota. Although it remains to be determined whether these changes are reversible or have deleterious effects on their hosts, we discuss methods to limit microbial diversity loss ex-situ and emphasize the importance of integrating bacterial communities to applied amphibian conservation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strong restructuration of skin microbiota during captivity challenges ex-situ conservation of amphibians

Fieschi‐Méric

Leeuwen²,

Hopkins³

et al. 2023

Front. Microbiol.

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“…These fungi have been reported as being most abundant in the dog and rat skin mycobiota [11, 12]. Their presence has also been reported in other animals, such as snakes [13], salamanders [14] and parrots [15], often associated with skin lesions.…”

Section: Full-textmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in fungal communities in the fur of two- and three-toed sloths revealed by ITS metabarcoding

Rojas‐Gätjens¹,

Avey-Arroyo²,

Chaverri

et al. 2023

Microbiology

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Sloths have dense fur on which insects, algae, bacteria and fungi coexist. Previous studies using cultivation-dependent methods and 18S rRNA sequencing revealed that the fungal communities in their furs comprise members of the phyla Ascomycota and Basidiomycota. In this note, we increase the resolution and knowledge of the mycobiome inhabiting the fur of the two- (Choloepus hoffmanni) and three-toed (Bradypus variegatus) sloths. Targeted amplicon metagenomic analysis of ITS2 nrDNA sequences obtained from 10 individuals of each species inhabiting the same site revealed significant differences in the structure of their fungal communities and also in the alpha-diversity estimators. The results suggest a specialization by host species and that the host effect is stronger than that of sex, age and animal weight. Capnodiales were the dominant order in sloths’ fur and Cladosporium and Neodevriesia were the most abundant genera in Bradypus and Choloepus, respectively. The fungal communities suggest that the green algae that inhabit the fur of sloths possibly live lichenized with Ascomycota fungal species. The data shown in this note offer a more detailed view of the fungal content in the fur of these extraordinary animals and could help explain other mutualistic relationships in this complex ecosystem.

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“…Furthermore, animal-microbiome interactions vary through evolutionary time 4,5 and the magnitude of phylogenetic effects on skin microbiome assemblages would be dependent on the evolutionary scale being analysed for both hosts (e.g., species within genera) and microbes (e.g., bacterial orders) 4,5 . Indeed, several studies have found substantial differences in skin microbial diversity among distinct amphibian genera and families 9,19,20 and have suggested a more prominent effect of host phylogeny on skin microbiomes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The contribution of different environmental and host-associated factors to shaping the skin microbiomes across the amphibian tree of life is not yet fully explored. Most studies addressing these questions have focused on frogs and toads (Anura) 9,12,14,17,21 and less attention has been paid to salamanders (Caudata) 15,20,[22][23][24][25] . Global analyses of amphibian microbiomes included over 200 anuran species but less than 30 salamander species 9 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Host phylogeny and environment shape the diversity of the salamander skin microbiome

Rebollar

Ramírez‐Barahona

González‐Serrano

et al. 2023

Preprint

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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 habitats, whereas phylogenetic effects appear to be weak. However, the relative strength of phylogenetic and environmental effects on amphibian skin microbiomes remains poorly understood. Here, we analysed sequence data from 1,091 adult salamanders in 41 species to characterise and compare the diversity and composition of skin bacteria. We assessed the relative contribution of climate, host habitat, and host phylogeny to the observed patterns of bacterial diversity. We found that microbial alpha was mainly associated with host habitat and climate, but that microbial beta diversity was more strongly associated with host taxonomy and phylogeny. This phylogeny effect predominantly occurred at intermediate levels of host divergence (0–50 Mya). Our results support the importance of environmental factors shaping the diversity of amphibian skin microbiomes, but also support host phylogenetic history as a major factor shaping these microbial communities.

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Factors Influencing Bacterial and Fungal Skin Communities of Montane Salamanders of Central Mexico

Cited by 5 publications

References 84 publications

Strong restructuration of skin microbiota during captivity challenges ex-situ conservation of amphibians

Strong restructuration of skin microbiota during captivity challenges ex-situ conservation of amphibians

Differences in fungal communities in the fur of two- and three-toed sloths revealed by ITS metabarcoding

Host phylogeny and environment shape the diversity of the salamander skin microbiome

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