Abstract
The Panamanian rocket frog Colostethus panamansis (family Dendrobatidae) has been affected by chytridiomycosis, a deadly disease caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). 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 C. panamansis 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 C. panamansis. The combination of microbial classification and molecular analysis in relation to the anti-Bd inhibitory databases reveals the resource has future potential for amphibian conservation.
Highlights
Among the three existing orders of amphibians, Caudata, Gymnophiona and Anura [1], the last one is the most diverse [2] and widely affected by the lethal amphibian disease chytridiomycosis, caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd).Bd is responsible for the high rate of amphibian loss in the world, in the Neotropics [3,4,5,6,7,8].This pathogen mainly infects amphibians at the ventral coronal plane [9]
After performing Sanger amplicon sequencing, we found that bacterial isolates belong to phylum Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria with a relative abundance of 85.3%, 10.6%, 3.5% and 0.6%, respectively
We found significant differences between the number of isolates, based on bacterial families, and body parts sampled (Friedman test; p = 0.0445)
Summary
Bd is responsible for the high rate of amphibian loss in the world, in the Neotropics [3,4,5,6,7,8]. This pathogen mainly infects amphibians at the ventral coronal plane (abdomen, pelvic patch, pes and toes) [9]. Colostethus panamansis (family Dendrobatidae) is considered a least-concerned species regarding its conservation status, despite a decreasing population trend [11]. Population declines of this species have not been noticed in the lowlands of Panama.
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