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Bacterial Skin Assemblages of Sympatric Salamanders Are Primarily Shaped by Host Genus

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Abstract

Bacterial assemblages on the skins of amphibians are known to influence pathogen resistance and other important physiological functions in the host. Host-specific factors and the environment play significant roles in structuring skin assemblages. This study used high-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing and multivariate analyses to examine differences in skin-bacterial assemblages from 246 salamanders belonging to three genera in the lungless family Plethodontidae along multiple spatial gradients. Composition and α- and β-diversity of bacterial assemblages were defined, indicator species were identified for each host group, and the relative influences of host- versus environment-specific ecological factors were evaluated. At the broadest spatial scale, host genus, host species, and sampling site were predictive of skin assemblage structure, but host genus and species were more influential after controlling for the marginal effects of site, as well as nestedness of site. Furthermore, assemblage similarity within each host genus did not change with increasing geographic distance. At the smallest spatial scale, site-specific climate analyses revealed different relationships to climatic variables for each of the three genera, and these relationships were determined by host ecomode. Variation in bacterial assemblages of terrestrial hosts correlated with landscape-level climatic variability, and this pattern decayed with increasing water dependence of the host. Results from this study highlight host-specific considerations for researchers studying wildlife diseases in co-occurring, yet ecologically divergent, species.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank B. Edelbrock, G. Russell, F. Erdman, R. Buck, C. Hall, J. Leys, M. Leys, I. Papraniku, S. Nolte, A. Moore, and D. Wilson for assistance in the field.

Funding

This research was funded by the Great Smoky Mountains Conservation Association Campbell Fellowship, The Herpetologists’ League E.E. Williams Research Grant, and The Tennessee Herpetological Society Chadwick Lewis Memorial Grant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Tennessee Technological University, 1100 North Dixie Avenue, Box 5063, Cookeville, TN, 38505, USA

    Aubree J. Hill

  2. Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Tennessee State University, 3500 John Merritt Blvd, Nashville, TN, 37209, USA

    Matthew Grisnik

  3. Department of Biology, Middle Tennessee State University, 1672 Greenland Drive, Murfreesboro, TN, 37132, USA

    Donald M. Walker

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The three authors contributed to all aspects of conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, investigation, and data curation. AJH wrote the manuscript and all authors contributed to revisions. All authors have agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Aubree J. Hill.

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All procedures involving animals were approved by the appropriate government agencies, including the United States Department of the Interior National Park Service (permit no. GRSM-2017-SCI-1263), the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (permit no. 3886), the State of Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Division of Natural Areas (permit no. 2016–026), and by the Tennessee Technological University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (permit no. 15–16-001).

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Hill, A.J., Grisnik, M. & Walker, D.M. Bacterial Skin Assemblages of Sympatric Salamanders Are Primarily Shaped by Host Genus. Microb Ecol 86, 1364–1373 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-022-02127-0

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