Seasonality Has Greater Influence on Amphibian Cutaneous Mycobiome than Host Species
Amphibians face severe threats from chytridiomycosis, and their skin microbiota plays a crucial role in pathogen defense. However, studies on their mycobiomes are limited. We hypothesized that amphibian cutaneous mycobiomes vary with seasonal variations and host species. To test this hypothesis, we...
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2025-06-01
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| author | Han Zhang Kunyang Zhang Hongying Ma Jie Deng Cheng Fang Hu Zhao Xiaoran An Jianlu Zhang Qijun Wang Wei Jiang Fei Kong |
| author_facet | Han Zhang Kunyang Zhang Hongying Ma Jie Deng Cheng Fang Hu Zhao Xiaoran An Jianlu Zhang Qijun Wang Wei Jiang Fei Kong |
| author_sort | Han Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Amphibians face severe threats from chytridiomycosis, and their skin microbiota plays a crucial role in pathogen defense. However, studies on their mycobiomes are limited. We hypothesized that amphibian cutaneous mycobiomes vary with seasonal variations and host species. To test this hypothesis, we used internal transcribed spacer (ITS) amplicon sequencing to identify the cutaneous fungal communities of two frogs from the Qinling Mountains of China, namely <i>Pelophylax nigromaculatus</i> and <i>Nanorana quadranus</i>. We also compared our ITS amplicon data with those of 30 known anti-Bd fungal ITS sequences to identify Bd-inhibiting fungi in the samples. The results showed that seasonal variation exerted a significantly stronger influence than host species on the fungal community structure (alpha diversity, beta diversity, species composition, abundance, and biomarkers). In the fungal community composition, intergroup consistency was significantly higher at the phylum level than at the genus level; however, one unidentified genus was present in samples from both frogs from different seasons. Anti-Bd fungi were detected in the skin fungal communities of <i>P. nigromaculatus</i> and <i>N. quadranus</i>, although their types and abundances varied seasonally and interspecifically. Overall, this study highlights seasonal dynamics and host-specific variations in amphibian cutaneous fungal ecology and identifies potential Bd-inhibiting fungal taxa. |
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| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
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| spelling | doaj-art-90cbf39f74ad470d8575d96d890d2f5c2025-07-25T13:27:15ZengMDPI AGJournal of Fungi2309-608X2025-06-0111747310.3390/jof11070473Seasonality Has Greater Influence on Amphibian Cutaneous Mycobiome than Host SpeciesHan Zhang0Kunyang Zhang1Hongying Ma2Jie Deng3Cheng Fang4Hu Zhao5Xiaoran An6Jianlu Zhang7Qijun Wang8Wei Jiang9Fei Kong10Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Qinling Ecological Security, Shaanxi Institute of Zoology, Xi’an 710032, ChinaCollege of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, ChinaShaanxi Key Laboratory of Qinling Ecological Security, Shaanxi Institute of Zoology, Xi’an 710032, ChinaShaanxi Key Laboratory of Qinling Ecological Security, Shaanxi Institute of Zoology, Xi’an 710032, ChinaShaanxi Key Laboratory of Qinling Ecological Security, Shaanxi Institute of Zoology, Xi’an 710032, ChinaShaanxi Key Laboratory of Qinling Ecological Security, Shaanxi Institute of Zoology, Xi’an 710032, ChinaFisheries Research & Technology Extension Center of Shaanxi, Xi’an 710086, ChinaShaanxi Key Laboratory of Qinling Ecological Security, Shaanxi Institute of Zoology, Xi’an 710032, ChinaShaanxi Key Laboratory of Qinling Ecological Security, Shaanxi Institute of Zoology, Xi’an 710032, ChinaShaanxi Key Laboratory of Qinling Ecological Security, Shaanxi Institute of Zoology, Xi’an 710032, ChinaShaanxi Key Laboratory of Qinling Ecological Security, Shaanxi Institute of Zoology, Xi’an 710032, ChinaAmphibians face severe threats from chytridiomycosis, and their skin microbiota plays a crucial role in pathogen defense. However, studies on their mycobiomes are limited. We hypothesized that amphibian cutaneous mycobiomes vary with seasonal variations and host species. To test this hypothesis, we used internal transcribed spacer (ITS) amplicon sequencing to identify the cutaneous fungal communities of two frogs from the Qinling Mountains of China, namely <i>Pelophylax nigromaculatus</i> and <i>Nanorana quadranus</i>. We also compared our ITS amplicon data with those of 30 known anti-Bd fungal ITS sequences to identify Bd-inhibiting fungi in the samples. The results showed that seasonal variation exerted a significantly stronger influence than host species on the fungal community structure (alpha diversity, beta diversity, species composition, abundance, and biomarkers). In the fungal community composition, intergroup consistency was significantly higher at the phylum level than at the genus level; however, one unidentified genus was present in samples from both frogs from different seasons. Anti-Bd fungi were detected in the skin fungal communities of <i>P. nigromaculatus</i> and <i>N. quadranus</i>, although their types and abundances varied seasonally and interspecifically. Overall, this study highlights seasonal dynamics and host-specific variations in amphibian cutaneous fungal ecology and identifies potential Bd-inhibiting fungal taxa.https://www.mdpi.com/2309-608X/11/7/473Qinling Mountainsamphibiansskinmycobiomesseasonal variationhost species difference |
| spellingShingle | Han Zhang Kunyang Zhang Hongying Ma Jie Deng Cheng Fang Hu Zhao Xiaoran An Jianlu Zhang Qijun Wang Wei Jiang Fei Kong Seasonality Has Greater Influence on Amphibian Cutaneous Mycobiome than Host Species Journal of Fungi Qinling Mountains amphibians skin mycobiomes seasonal variation host species difference |
| title | Seasonality Has Greater Influence on Amphibian Cutaneous Mycobiome than Host Species |
| title_full | Seasonality Has Greater Influence on Amphibian Cutaneous Mycobiome than Host Species |
| title_fullStr | Seasonality Has Greater Influence on Amphibian Cutaneous Mycobiome than Host Species |
| title_full_unstemmed | Seasonality Has Greater Influence on Amphibian Cutaneous Mycobiome than Host Species |
| title_short | Seasonality Has Greater Influence on Amphibian Cutaneous Mycobiome than Host Species |
| title_sort | seasonality has greater influence on amphibian cutaneous mycobiome than host species |
| topic | Qinling Mountains amphibians skin mycobiomes seasonal variation host species difference |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2309-608X/11/7/473 |
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