Immune equilibrium modeled as balance beams after Eberl (2016).
Microbiota including pathogens of the frog Xenopus laevis may bias immune responses at early stages of development such that the microbiome and infection susceptibility will be altered in later life.
In this 3 year NIH-funded project we will utilize germ-free conditions for raising tadpoles and monitoring immune responses and microbiota on the skin and mucus.
The microbiome interacts with multiple aspects of the amphibian skin landscape.
We review amphibian skin mucus components and describe the adaptive microbiome as a novel process of disease resilience where competitive microbial interactions couple with host immune responses to select for functions beneficial to the host.
Woodhams DC, McCartney J, Walke JB, Whetstone R. 2023. The Adaptive Microbiome Hypothesis and Immune Interactions in Amphibian Mucus. Developmental and Comparative Immunology, 145:104690.
https://www.caveslime.org/
Dr. Pat Kearns leads analysis of bat mycobiomes.
Kearns PJ, Winter AS, Woodhams DC, Northup DE. 2023. The mycobiome of bats in the American southwest is structured by geography, bat species, and behavior. Microbial Ecology, 86(3):1565-1574.
Illustration by Hill published Shaw (1802) General Zoology or Systematic Natural History, volume Amphibia
Madison JD, LaBumbard B, Woodhams DC. Shotgun metagenomics captures more microbial diversity than targeted 16S rRNA gene sequencing for field specimens and preserved museum specimens. PLoS One, 18(9): e0291540.
We discovered that Bsal caused infection in 74% and mortality in 35% of species tested. Both salamanders and frogs became infected and developed Bsal chytridiomycosis.
Gray MJ, Carter ED, Cusaac JPD, Peterson AC, Whetstone RD*, Hertz A, Bletz MC , Woodhams DC, Piovia-Scott J, Romansic J, Olea GP, Hardman R , McCusker CD, Miller DL. 2023. Broad host susceptibility of North American amphibian species to Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans suggests high invasion potential. Nature Communications, 14(1):3270.
Bd metabolites induce protective skin bacterial response in tadpoles.
Woodhams lab contributes to three articles in theme issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.
Pereira KE, Bletz MC, McCartney JA, Woodhams DC, Woodley SK. 2023. Effects of corticosterone on immunity and the skin microbiome of Eastern Newts (Notophthalmus viridescens). Philosophical Transactions B. 378(1882):20220120.
doi: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0120.
Miller A, Gass J, Chul Jo M, Bishop L, Petereit J, Woodhams DC, Voyles J. 2023. Gnotobiotic larvae as a tool to investigate influence of the microbiome on the development of the amphibian immune system. Philosophical Transactions B. 378(1882): 20220125.
doi: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0125
Siomoko SA, Greenspan SE, Barnett KM, Neely WJ, Chtarbanova S, Woodhams DC, McMahon TA, Becker CG. 2023. Selection of an anti-pathogen skin microbiome following prophylaxis treatment in an amphibian model system. Philosophical Transactions B. 378(1882):20220126. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0126
An update to this study, “Detecting Corticosterone utilizing Epidermal Mucus Swabs in Notophthalmus viridescens viridescens” by Victor Quadros, Brady Inman, Michael Romero, and Douglas C. Woodhams will be presented at the Amphibian Disease Meeting in Nashville on November 11, 2023.
Nature Microbiology publishes a joint review encompassing the careful and responsible management of ecosystem resources using the microbiome (termed microbiome stewardship) to rehabilitate organisms and ecosystem functions.
Peixoto RS, Voolstra CR, Sweet M, Duarte CM, Carvalho S, Villela H, Lunshof JE, Gram L, Woodhams DC, Walter J, Roik A, Hentschel U, Vega Thurber R, Daisley B, Ushijima B, Daffonchio D, Costa R, Keller-Costa T, Bowman JS, Rosado AS, Reid G, Mason CE, Walke JB, Thomas T, Berg G. (2022) Harnessing the microbiome to prevent global biodiversity loss. Nature Microbiology.
We highlight that targeted habitat-restoration strategies aiming to connect multiple classes of natural habitats (e.g. terrestrial–freshwater, terrestrial–marine, marine–freshwater) could enhance priming of the vertebrate immune system through repeated low-load exposure to enzootic pathogens and reduced stress-induced immunosuppression.
Becker CG, Greenspan SE, Martins RA, Lyra ML, Prist P, Metzger JP, São Pedro V, Haddad CFB, Le Sage EH, Woodhams DC, Savage AE. Habitat split as a driver of disease in amphibians. Biological Reviews.