Reid N. Harris

TL;DR: Adding an antifungal bacterial species, Janthinobacterium lividum, found on several species of amphibians to the skins of the frog Rana muscosa prevented morbidity and mortality caused by the pathogen chytridiomycosis, showing that cutaneous microbes are a part of amphibian' innate immune system, the microbial community structure on frog skins is a determinant of disease outcome and altering microbial interactions onfrog skins can prevent a lethal disease outcome.

TL;DR: This experiment demonstrates that differentiation rate responds to food availability throughout the larval period in a manner consistent with the predictions of the Wilbur-Collins model.

TL;DR: Using laboratory challenge assays, it is found that members of three genera of bacteria isolated from the skins of the salamander P. cinereus and members of seven genera isolate from the skin of theSalamander H. scutatum inhibited the growth of B. dendrobatidis.

TL;DR: The hypothesis that cutaneous, mutualistic bacteria play a role in amphibian resistance to fungal disease is supported and exploitation of this biological process may provide long-term resistance to B. dendrobatidis.

TL;DR: It is suggested that future experiments focus on testing whether core bacteria on salamander skin contribute to the observed resistance to chytridiomycosis in this species even under hygenic captive conditions, and using PICRUSt, an exploratory bioinformatics tool to predict gene functions, it is found that core skin bacteria provided similar gene functions to the entire community.