Edwards Casey L, Byrne Phillip G, Harlow Peter, Silla Aimee J
Centre for Sustainable Ecosystem Solutions, School of Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia.
Herpetofauna Division, Taronga Conservation Society Australia, Mosman, NSW, Australia.
Microb Ecol. 2017 Feb;73(2):435-444. doi: 10.1007/s00248-016-0853-2. Epub 2016 Sep 13.
The rapid spread of infectious disease has resulted in the decline of animal populations globally. Amphibians support a diversity of microbial symbionts on their skin surface that help to inhibit pathogen colonisation and reduce disease susceptibility and virulence. These cutaneous microbial communities represent an important component of amphibian immune defence, however, very little is known about the environmental factors that influence the cutaneous microbiome. Here, we characterise the cutaneous bacterial communities of a captive colony of the critically endangered Australian southern corroboree frog, Pseudophyrne corroboree, and examine the effect of dietary carotenoid supplementation on bacterial abundance, species richness and community composition. Individuals receiving a carotenoid-supplemented diet exhibited significantly higher bacterial abundance and species richness as well as an altered bacterial community composition compared to individuals that did not receive dietary carotenoids. Our findings suggest that dietary carotenoid supplementation enhances the cutaneous bacteria community of the southern corroboree frog and regulates the presence of bacteria species within the cutaneous microbiome. Our study is the second to demonstrate that carotenoid supplementation can improve amphibian cutaneous bacterial community dynamics, drawing attention to the possibility that dietary manipulation may assist with the ex situ management of endangered species and improve resilience to lethal pathogens such as Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd).
传染病的迅速传播导致全球动物数量减少。两栖动物的皮肤表面存在多种微生物共生体，有助于抑制病原体定植，并降低疾病易感性和毒力。这些皮肤微生物群落是两栖动物免疫防御的重要组成部分，然而，对于影响皮肤微生物组的环境因素，我们知之甚少。在此，我们对极度濒危的澳大利亚南部灌丛蛙（Pseudophyrne corroboree）圈养群体的皮肤细菌群落进行了特征描述，并研究了补充膳食类胡萝卜素对细菌丰度、物种丰富度和群落组成的影响。与未接受膳食类胡萝卜素的个体相比，接受补充类胡萝卜素饮食的个体表现出显著更高的细菌丰度和物种丰富度，以及改变的细菌群落组成。我们的研究结果表明，补充膳食类胡萝卜素可增强南部灌丛蛙的皮肤细菌群落，并调节皮肤微生物组内细菌物种的存在。我们的研究是第二项证明补充类胡萝卜素可改善两栖动物皮肤细菌群落动态的研究，这使人们注意到饮食调控可能有助于濒危物种的迁地管理，并提高对致命病原体（如蛙壶菌）的抵抗力。
