Journal Article

Community richness of amphibian skin bacteria correlates with bioclimate at the global scale

McKenzie, Valerie J., Longo, Ana V., Stevenson, Robert, Abarca, Juan G., Kearns, Patrick J., Loudon, Andrew, Medina, Daniel, Bletz, Molly C., Geffers, Robert, Hughey, Myra, Zúñiga Chaves, Ibrahim, Arellano, Ana Lisette, Becker, Matthew, Harris, Reid N., Holden, Whitney M., Jarek, Michael, Perl, R. G. Bina, Kerby, Jacob L., Belden, Lisa K., Becker, C. Guilherme, Rabemananjara, Falitiana C. E., Vargas Asensio, Gabriel, Whitfield, Steven M., Rebollar, Eria A., Tebbe, Christoph C., Zamudio, Kelly R., Rodríguez, Ariel, Walke, Jenifer B., Kielgast, Jos, Woodhams, Douglas C., Crottini, Angelica, Haddad, Célio. F. B., Kurabayashi, Atsushi, Pinto-Tomás, Adrián, Kueneman, Jordan G., Bataille, Arnaud, Rollins-Smith, Louise, Joseph, Maxwell B., Nuñez, José J., Archer, Holly, Waldman, Bruce, Vences, Miguel

2019

Overview

Animal-associated microbiomes are integral to host health, yet key biotic and abiotic factors that shape host-associated microbial communities at the global scale remain poorly understood. We investigated global patterns in amphibian skin bacterial communities, incorporating samples from 2,349 individuals representing 205 amphibian species across a broad biogeographic range. We analysed how biotic and abiotic factors correlate with skin microbial communities using multiple statistical approaches. Global amphibian skin bacterial richness was consistently correlated with temperature-associated factors. We found more diverse skin microbiomes in environments with colder winters and less stable thermal conditions compared with environments with warm winters and less annual temperature variation. We used bioinformatically predicted bacterial growth rates, dormancy genes and antibiotic synthesis genes, as well as inferred bacterial thermal growth optima to propose mechanistic hypotheses that may explain the observed patterns. We conclude that temporal and spatial characteristics of the host’s macro-environment mediate microbial diversity. Data on the richness and composition of the skin microbiome from 2,349 individual amphibians, representing 205 species across a broad geographic range, is compared with local biotic and abiotic environmental factors.

• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group UK,Nature Publishing Group,Nature
• Subject: 45/23 / 631/158 / 631/158/855 / 631/326 / Abiotic factors / Agricultural sciences / Amphibians / Animal biology / Animal production studies / Animals / Antibiotics / Anura - microbiology / Bacteria / Bacteria - classification / Bacterial Physiological Phenomena / Bioclimatology / Biodiversity and Ecology / Biological and Physical Anthropology / Climate / Dormancy / Ecology / Ecology, environment / Environmental factors / Environmental Sciences / Evolutionary Biology / Genes / Growth rate / Life Sciences / Microbial activity / Microbiomes / Microbiota / Microorganisms / Paleontology / Reptiles & amphibians / Skin / Skin - microbiology / Statistical methods / Urodela - microbiology / Zoology / Zootechny