Host and environmental microbial communities and their anti-pathogen function

• Grant number: 22/11119-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: February 01, 2023
• End date: January 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Applied Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Célio Fernando Baptista Haddad
• Grantee: Ananda Brito de Assis
• Supervisor: Carlos Guilherme Becker
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Pennsylvania State University, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 21/02414-3 - Effect of habitat split on Atlantic Forest soil microbiome and consequences for amphibian immunity, BP.PD

Abstract

Amphibians are particularly susceptible to environmental changes and infectious diseases. They are associated with microorganisms producing bioactive molecules that act as a barrier to the colonization of pathogenic agents. Variations in the structure of the amphibian skin microbial communities and their metabolic products (i.e., microbiomes) can have a direct influence on the ability of each individual frog to avoid or reduce the severity of pathogenic infections. Such hosted microbiota probably depends on the habitat microbial community dynamics. Throughout this research, we aim to analyze the amphibian and environmental microbial communities, regarding their diversity, composition, anti-pathogen function, and pathogen prevalence across focal landscapes. We will test hypotheses concerning the relationship between habitat connectivity and the microbial communities related to amphibians, proposed in the original postdoctoral research. We will use emerging molecular and genetic tools, such as high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA to analyze the composition and diversity of soil and amphibians' bacterial communities, and digital PCR to enhance our ability to detect low concentrations of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) in the environment. In addition, we will run bioassays to test the anti-Bd function of soil- and amphibian-associated bacteria. The strains with Bd-inhibitory activity will be identified taxonomically and incorporated into an expanding anti-Bd dataset with over 4k bacterial isolates from amphibians already tested. This study will contribute to the understanding of the environmental influence on amphibian microbiome recruitment and the interaction with pathogens. (AU)