Abstract
Host-associated microbiomes play an essential role in the health of organisms, including immune system activation, metabolism, and energy uptake. It is well established that microbial communities differ depending on the life stage and natural history of the organism. However, the effects of life stage and natural history on microbial communities may also be influenced by human activities. We investigated the effects of amphibian life stage (terrestrial eft vs. aquatic adult) and proximity to roadways on newt skin bacterial communities. We found that the eft and adult life stages differed in bacterial community composition; however, the effects of roads on community composition was more evident in the terrestrial eft stage compared to the aquatic adult stage. Terrestrial efts sampled close to roads possessed richer communities than those living further away from the influence of roads. When accounting for ASVs with predicted antifungal capabilities, in the adult life stage, we observed a decrease in anti-fungal bacteria with distance to roads. In contrast, in the eft stage, we found an increase in anti-fungal bacteria with distance to roads. Our results highlight the need to consider the effects of human activities when evaluating how host-associated microbiomes differ across life stages of wildlife.
| Original language | American English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 3954-3965 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Default journal |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| State | Published - Mar 31 2022 |
Funding
Funding for this research was provided by the Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship awarded to O.H.-G. and the NSF 1655190 awarded to J.H. We would like to thank Dai Bui, Nicholas Buss, Marina Carbi, Devin DiGiacopo, Dylan May, Quentin Melnick-Kelly, Grascen Shidemantle and Sydney Tredo for their help with sampling efforts. We also thank the staff of the Cornell University Biotechnology Resource Center for their assistance in DNA sequencing. We thank Erica Bree Rosenblum for graciously allowing us to perform the sequencing library preparation in her lab at the University of California, Berkeley and Shannon Buttimer, Albert Tang, Carissa Tinoco and Ricardo Moctezuma for their help with laboratory work. This research was conducted under New York State's Scientific Licence to Collect and Possess: Scientific #2673 and in compliance with the Binghamton University Institutional Animal Care and Use Protocol #757-16. Funding for this research was provided by the Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship awarded to O.H.‐G. and the NSF 1655190 awarded to J.H. We would like to thank Dai Bui, Nicholas Buss, Marina Carbi, Devin DiGiacopo, Dylan May, Quentin Melnick‐Kelly, Grascen Shidemantle and Sydney Tredo for their help with sampling efforts. We also thank the staff of the Cornell University Biotechnology Resource Center for their assistance in DNA sequencing. We thank Erica Bree Rosenblum for graciously allowing us to perform the sequencing library preparation in her lab at the University of California, Berkeley and Shannon Buttimer, Albert Tang, Carissa Tinoco and Ricardo Moctezuma for their help with laboratory work. This research was conducted under New York State's Scientific Licence to Collect and Possess: Scientific #2673 and in compliance with the Binghamton University Institutional Animal Care and Use Protocol #757‐16.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| University of California, Berkeley and Shannon Buttimer | 757-16, 2673 |
| National Science Foundation | 1655190 |
| Ford Foundation |
ASJC Scopus Subject Areas
- Microbiology
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Keywords
- wildlife health
- newts
- eastern newt
- amphibians
Disciplines
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
- Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology