Cutaneous bacteria of the redback salamander prevent morbidity associated with a lethal disease

Chytridiomycosis, caused by the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), is an infectious disease that causes population declines of many amphibians. Cutaneous bacteria isolated from redback salamanders, Plethodon cinereus, and mountain yellow-legged frogs, Rana muscosa, inhibit the grow...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2010-06, Vol.5 (6), p.e10957-e10957
Main Authors: Becker, Matthew H, Harris, Reid N
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acidification
Amphibia
Amphibians
Animals
Antibiotics
Bacteria
Bacteria - isolation & purification
Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis
Body mass
Candida
Candida albicans
Caudata
Chytridiomycosis
Communicable diseases
Communities
Disease
Disease resistance
Ecology
Ecology/Conservation and Restoration Ecology
Ecology/Environmental Microbiology
Frogs
Fungi
Hemidactylium scutatum
Homarus americanus
Hypotheses
Infectious Diseases
Infectious Diseases/Epidemiology and Control of Infectious Diseases
Infectious Diseases/Fungal Infections
Lactobacillus
Lethal effects
Metabolites
Morbidity
Mortality
Mutualism
Mycoses - prevention & control
Plethodon cinereus
Population decline
Rana muscosa
Reptiles & amphibians
Skin
Skin - microbiology
Skin diseases
Urodela - microbiology
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Summary:Chytridiomycosis, caused by the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), is an infectious disease that causes population declines of many amphibians. Cutaneous bacteria isolated from redback salamanders, Plethodon cinereus, and mountain yellow-legged frogs, Rana muscosa, inhibit the growth of Bd in vitro. In this study, the bacterial community present on the skin of P. cinereus individuals was investigated to determine if it provides protection to salamanders from the lethal and sub-lethal effects of chytridiomycosis. When the cutaneous bacterial community was reduced prior to Bd exposure, salamanders experienced a significantly greater decrease in body mass, which is a symptom of the disease, when compared to infected individuals with a normal bacterial community. In addition, a greater proportion of infected individuals with a reduced bacterial community experienced limb-lifting, a behavior seen only in infected individuals. Overall, these results demonstrate that the cutaneous bacterial community of P. cinereus provides protection to the salamander from Bd and that alteration of this community can change disease resistance. Therefore, symbiotic microbes associated with this species appear to be an important component of its innate skin defenses.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0010957