Natures wonders: frog skin microbiome (Introduction)

by David Turell , Sunday, October 11, 2015, 21:54 (3329 days ago) @ David Turell

The population of bacteria living on frog skin protects the skin:-http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151007144842.htm-"However, naturally occurring skin bacteria can respond to infection and adjust structure and function to compensate for it, according to the team.-"'It turned out that in this experiment, it wasn't about a single bacterium being protective, but rather the structure of the whole community was important in infection and frog health," said Jeni Walke, a postdoctoral associate in Biological Sciences at Virginia Tech-***-"For this latest experiment, Belden's team collected bullfrogs from a pond in Giles County, Virginia. About half of the frogs were already infected with the fungus that can cause disease in some amphibian species.-"The team divided them into six experimental groups to explore the infection rate differences between those treated with antibiotics, which reduced the normal bacteria, those treated with an anti-chytrid probiotic bacterium and those not treated at all. These treatments resulted in differences in microbial structure on the frogs' skin, which in turn influenced infection levels and frog growth.-"Because some frogs were infected with the fungus and others weren't, the scientists were also able to demonstrate that the fungus affects the microbial structure of the bacteria living on frog skin.-"In this experiment, it wasn't a single probiotic bacterium that was protective, but rather the structure of the whole community that was important for frog health."-Humans just like all other animals have a helpful biome.