Metabolites from Microbes Isolated from the Skin of the Panamanian Rocket Frog (Anura: Dendrobatidae).

The Panamanian rocket frog (family Dendrobatidae) has been affected by chytridiomycosis, a deadly disease caused by the fungus (). While there are still uninfected frogs, we set out to isolate microbes from anatomically distinct regions in an effort to create a cultivable resource within Panama for potential drug/agricultural/ecological applications that perhaps could also be used as part of a strategy to protect frogs from infections. To understand if there are specific anatomies that should be explored in future applications of this resource, we mapped skin-associated bacteria of and their metabolite production potential by mass spectrometry on a 3D model. Our results indicate that five bacterial families (Enterobacteriaceae, Comamonadaceae, Aeromonadaceae, Staphylococcaceae and Pseudomonadaceae) dominate the cultivable microbes from the skin of . The combination of microbial classification and molecular analysis in relation to the anti- inhibitory databases reveals the resource has future potential for amphibian conservation.