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- For the past several decades, amphibian populations have been decreasing
around the globe at an unprecedented rate. Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), the fungal
pathogen that causes chytridiomycosis in amphibians, is contributing to amphibian declines.
Natural and anthropogenic environmental factors are hypothesized to contribute to these
declines by reducing the immunocompetence of amphibian hosts, making them more
susceptible to infection. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) produced in the granular glands of a
frog’s skin are thought to be a key defense against Bd infection. These peptides may be a
critical immune defense during metamorphosis because many acquired immune functions are
suppressed during this time. To test if stressors alter AMP production and survival of frogs
exposed to Bd, we exposed wood frog (Lithobates sylvaticus) tadpoles to the presence or
absence of dragonfly predator cues crossed with a single exposure to three nominal
concentrations of the insecticide malathion (0, 10, or 100 parts per billion [ppb]). We then
exposed a subset of post-metamorphic frogs to the presence or absence of Bd zoospores and
measured frog survival. Although predator cues and malathion had no effect on survival or
size at metamorphosis, predator cues increased the time to metamorphosis by 1.5 days and
caused a trend of a 20% decrease in hydrophobic skin peptides. Despite this decrease in
peptides determined shortly after metamorphosis, previous exposure to predator cues
increased survival in both Bd-exposed and unexposed frogs several weeks after metamorphosis.
These results suggest that exposing tadpoles to predator cues confers fitness benefits later
in life.
- Keywords: immunosuppression,
AchE inhibitor,
chytridiomycosis,
disease ecology,
brevinin,
emerging infectious disease,
Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis,
temporin,
Lithobates sylvaticus,
indirect effects
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- Groner, M. L., Buck, J. C., Gervasi, S., Blaustein, A. R., Reinert, L. K., Rollins-Smith, L. A., . . . Relyea, R. A. (2013). Larval exposure to predator cues alters immune function and response to a fungal pathogen in post-metamorphic wood frogs. Ecological Applications, 23(6), 1443-1454. doi:10.1890/12-1572.1
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Funding Statement (additional comments about funding) |
- Funding was provided by a Pape grant, Chicago Herpetological Society Grant, Sigma Xi GIAR, and a Gaige Award to M. L. Groner, NSF graduate research fellowships to J. C. Buck and M. L. Groner, NSF grants O619536 and 0843207 to L. A. Rollins-Smith, and NSF grant 05-18250 to R. A. Relyea. Funding for the Waters QTOF2 mass spectrometer and nanoflow ESI equipment was from Carnegie Mellon Biotechnology Initiative Fund and a Faculty Development Fund, respectively, awarded to M. E. Bier.
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