scholarly journals Invasive vegetation affects amphibian skin microbiota and body condition

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e8549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Obed Hernández-Gómez ◽  
Allison Q. Byrne ◽  
Alex R. Gunderson ◽  
Thomas S. Jenkinson ◽  
Clay F. Noss ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Body Condition ◽  
Invasive Plant ◽  
Batrachochytrium Dendrobatidis ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Habitat Modification ◽  
Sequence Variant ◽  
Soil Arthropods ◽  
Amphibian Skin ◽  
Skin Microbiota

Invasive plants are major drivers of habitat modification and the scale of their impact is increasing globally as anthropogenic activities facilitate their spread. In California, an invasive plant genus of great concern is Eucalyptus. Eucalyptus leaves can alter soil chemistry and negatively affect underground macro- and microbial communities. Amphibians serve as excellent models to evaluate the effect of Eucalyptus invasion on ground-dwelling species as they predate on soil arthropods and incorporate soil microbes into their microbiotas. The skin microbiota is particularly important to amphibian health, suggesting that invasive plant species could ultimately affect amphibian populations. To investigate the potential for invasive vegetation to induce changes in microbial communities, we sampled microbial communities in the soil and on the skin of local amphibians. Specifically, we compared Batrachoseps attenuatus skin microbiomes in both Eucalyptus globulus (Myrtaceae) and native Quercusagrifolia (Fagaceae) dominated forests in the San Francisco Bay Area. We determined whether changes in microbial diversity and composition in both soil and Batrachoseps attenuatus skin were associated with dominant vegetation type. To evaluate animal health across vegetation types, we compared Batrachoseps attenuatus body condition and the presence/absence of the amphibian skin pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. We found that Eucalyptus invasion had no measurable effect on soil microbial community diversity and a relatively small effect (compared to the effect of site identity) on community structure in the microhabitats sampled. In contrast, our results show that Batrachoseps attenuatus skin microbiota diversity was greater in Quercus dominated habitats. One amplicon sequence variant identified in the family Chlamydiaceae was observed in higher relative abundance among salamanders sampled in Eucalyptus dominated habitats. We also observed that Batrachoseps attenuatus body condition was higher in Quercus dominated habitats. Incidence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis across all individuals was very low (only one Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis positive individual). The effect on body condition demonstrates that although Eucalyptus may not always decrease amphibian abundance or diversity, it can potentially have cryptic negative effects. Our findings prompt further work to determine the mechanisms that lead to changes in the health and microbiome of native species post-plant invasion.

scholarly journals Habitat disturbance Linked with Host Microbiome Dispersion and Bd Dynamics in Temperate Amphibians

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wesley James Neely ◽  
Sasha E Greenspan ◽  
Leigha M Stahl ◽  
Sam D Heraghty ◽  
Vanessa M Marshall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Population Health ◽  
Batrachochytrium Dendrobatidis ◽  
Habitat Disturbance ◽  
Skin Microbiome ◽  
Amphibian Skin ◽  
Community Interactions ◽  
Microbiome Composition ◽  
Habitat Disturbances ◽  
Anthropogenic Habitat

Abstract Anthropogenic habitat disturbances can dramatically alter ecological community interactions, including host-pathogen dynamics. Recent work has highlighted the potential for habitat disturbances to alter host-associated microbial communities, but the associations between anthropogenic disturbance, host microbiomes, and pathogens are unresolved. Amphibian skin microbial communities are particularly responsive to factors like temperature, physiochemistry, pathogen infection, and environmental microbial reservoirs. Through a field survey on wild populations of Acris crepitans (Hylidae) and Lithobates catesbeianus (Ranidae), we assessed effects of habitat disturbance on environmental bacterial resevoirs, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) infection, and skin microbiome composition. We found higher measures of microbiome dispersion (a measure of community stability) in A. crepitans from more disturbed ponds, supporting the hypothesis that disturbance increases stochasticity in biological communties. We also found that habitat disturbance limited microbiome similarity between locations for both species, suggesting less bacterial exchange in more disturbed areas. Higher disturbance was associated with lower Bd prevalence for A. crepitans, which could signify suboptimal microclimates for Bd in disturbed habitats. In this system we use microbiome dispersion as a metric of population health. Combined, our findings show that reduced microbiome stability stemming from habitat disturbance could compromise population health, even in the absence of pathogenic infection.

scholarly journals Skin bacterial communities of neotropical treefrogs vary with local environmental conditions at the time of sampling

PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e7044 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angie Estrada ◽  
Myra C. Hughey ◽  
Daniel Medina ◽  
Eria A. Rebollar ◽  
Jenifer B. Walke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bacterial Community ◽  
Temporal Variation ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Bacterial Communities ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Amphibian Conservation ◽  
Rrna Gene ◽  
Skin Microbiome ◽  
Amphibian Skin

The amphibian skin microbiome has been the focus of recent studies aiming to better understand the role of these microbial symbionts in host defense against disease. However, host-associated microbial communities are complex and dynamic, and changes in their composition and structure can influence their function. Understanding temporal variation of bacterial communities on amphibian skin is critical for establishing baselines from which to improve the development of mitigation techniques based on probiotic therapy and provides long-term host protection in a changing environment. Here, we investigated whether microbial communities on amphibian skin change over time at a single site. To examine this, we collected skin swabs from two pond-breeding species of treefrogs, Agalychnis callidryas and Dendropsophus ebraccatus, over 4 years at a single lowland tropical pond in Panamá. Relative abundance of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) based on 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing was used to determine bacterial community diversity on the skin of both treefrog species. We found significant variation in bacterial community structure across long and short-term time scales. Skin bacterial communities differed across years on both species and between seasons and sampling days only in D. ebraccatus. Importantly, bacterial community structures across days were as variable as year level comparisons. The differences in bacterial community were driven primarily by differences in relative abundance of key OTUs and explained by rainfall at the time of sampling. These findings suggest that skin-associated microbiomes are highly variable across time, and that for tropical lowland sites, rainfall is a good predictor of variability. However, more research is necessary to elucidate the significance of temporal variation in bacterial skin communities and their maintenance for amphibian conservation efforts.

Invasive plant-derived dissolved organic matter alters microbial communities and carbon cycling in soils

2021 ◽  
pp. 108191
Author(s):  
Morgan Luce McLeod ◽  
Lorinda Bullington ◽  
Cory C. Cleveland ◽  
Johannes Rousk ◽  
Ylva Lekberg
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Dissolved Organic Matter ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Carbon Cycling ◽  
Invasive Plant

scholarly journals Comparison of Respiratory Microbiome Disruption Indices to Predict VAP and VAE risk at LTACH Admission

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s179-s180
Author(s):  
Erik Clarke ◽  
Kathleen None Chiotos ◽  
James Harrigan ◽  
Ebbing Lautenbach ◽  
Emily Reesey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Critical Illness ◽  
Bacterial Community ◽  
16S Rrna ◽  
Respiratory Tract ◽  
Predictive Performance ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Rrna Gene ◽  
Sequence Variant ◽  
Antibiotic Exposure ◽  
Shannon Diversity

Background: Healthcare exposure results in significant microbiome disruption, particularly in the setting of critical illness, which may contribute to risk for healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Patients admitted to long-term acute-care hospitals (LTACHs) have extensive prior healthcare exposure and critical illness; significant microbiome disruption has been previously documented among LTACH patients. We compared the predictive value of 3 respiratory tract microbiome disruption indices—bacterial community diversity, dominance, and absolute abundance—as they relate to risk for ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and adverse ventilator-associated events (VAE), which commonly complicate LTACH care. Methods: We enrolled 83 subjects on admission to an academic LTACH for ventilator weaning and performed longitudinal sampling of endotracheal aspirates, followed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing (Illumina HiSeq), bacterial community profiling (QIIME2) for diversity, and 16S rRNA quantitative PCR (qPCR) for total bacterial abundance. Statistical analyses were performed with R and Stan software. Mixed-effects models were fit to relate the admission MDIs to subsequent clinically diagnosed VAP and VAE. Results: Of the 83 patients, 19 had been diagnosed with pneumonia during the 14 days prior to LTACH admission (ie, “recent past VAP”); 23 additional patients were receiving antibiotics consistent with empiric VAP therapy within 48 hours of admission (ie, “empiric VAP therapy”); and 41 patients had no evidence of VAP at admission (ie, “no suspected VAP”). We detected no statistically significant differences in admission Shannon diversity, maximum amplicon sequence variant (ASV)–level proportional abundance, or 16S qPCR across the variables of interest. In isolation, all 3 admission microbiome disruption indices showed poor predictive performance, though Shannon diversity performed better than maximum ASV abundance. Predictive models that combined (1) bacterial diversity or abundance with (2) recent prior VAP diagnosis and (3) concurrent antibiotic exposure best predicted 14-day VAP (type S error < 0.05) and 30-day VAP (type S error < 0.003). In this cohort, VAE risk was paradoxically associated with higher admission Shannon diversity and lower admission maximum ASV abundance. Conclusions: In isolation, respiratory tract microbiome disruption indices obtained at LTACH admission showed poor predictive performance for subsequent VAP and VAE. But diversity and abundance models incorporating recent VAP history and admission antibiotic exposure performed well predicting 14-day and 30-day VAP.Disclosures: NoneFunding: None

scholarly journals Human Skin Bacterial Community Response to Probiotic (Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938) Introduction

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 1223
Author(s):  
Marie Frerejacques ◽  
Camille Rousselle ◽  
Loüen Gauthier ◽  
Salomé Cottet-Emard ◽  
Léa Derobert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bacterial Community ◽  
Lactobacillus Reuteri ◽  
Community Response ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Colonization Rate ◽  
Bacterial Strains ◽  
Skin Microbiota ◽  
Potential Health ◽  
The Impact

The introduction of a strain or consortium has often been considered as a potential solution to restore microbial ecosystems. Extensive research on the skin microbiota has led to the development of probiotic products (with live bacterial strains) that are likely to treat dysbiosis. However, the effects of such introductions on the indigenous microbiota have not yet been investigated. Here, through a daily application of Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 on volunteers’ forearm skin, we studied in vivo the impact of a probiotic on the indigenous skin bacterial community diversity using Terminal-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (T-RFLP) for 3 weeks. The results demonstrate that Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 inoculum had a transient effect on the indigenous community, as the resilience phenomenon was observed within the skin microbiota. Moreover, Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 monitoring showed that, despite a high level of detection after 2 weeks of application, thereafter the colonization rate drops drastically. The probiotic colonization rate was correlated significantly to the effect on the indigenous microbial community structure. These preliminary results suggest that the success of probiotic use and the potential health benefits resides in the interactions with the human microbiota.

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