While a number of amphibian skin microbiomes have been characterized, it is unclear how these communities might vary in response to seasonal changes in the environment and the corresponding behaviors that many amphibians exhibit. Given recent studies demonstrating the importance of the skin microbiome in frog innate immune defense against pathogens, investigating how changes in the environment impact the microbial species present will provide a better understanding of conditions that may alter host susceptibility to pathogens in their environment. We sampled the bacterial skin microbiome of North American wood frogs (Rana sylvatica) from two breeding ponds in the spring, along with the bacterial community present in their vernal breeding pools, and frogs from the nearby forest floor in the summer and fall to determine whether community composition differs by sex, vernal pond site, or temporally across season (spring, summer, fall). Taxon relative abundance data reveals a profile of bacterial phyla similar to those previously described on anuran skin, with Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria dominating the wood frog skin microbiome. Our results indicate that sex had no significant effect on skin microbiota diversity; however, this may be due to our limited female frog sample size. Vernal pool site had a small but significant effect on skin microbiota, but skin-associated communities were more similar to each other than to the communities observed in the frogs’ respective pond water. Across seasons, diversity analyses suggest that there are significant differences between the bacterial skin microbiome of frogs from spring and summer/fall groups while the average α-diversity per frog remained consistent. These results illustrate seasonal variation in wood frog skin microbiome structure and highlight the importance of considering temporal trends in an amphibian microbiome, particularly for species whose life history requires recurrent shifts in habitat and behavior.

尽管已鉴定出许多两栖类皮肤微生物群，但尚不清楚这些群落如何随环境的季节性变化和许多两栖动物表现出的相应行为而变化。鉴于最近的研究表明皮肤微生物组在青蛙固有的针对病原体的免疫防御中的重要性，研究环境变化如何影响所存在的微生物物种将提供对可能改变宿主对环境中病原体敏感性的条件的更好理解。我们对北美木蛙（Rana sylvatica）的细菌皮肤微生物组进行了采样）在春季从两个繁殖池中收集，以及它们的春季繁殖池中存在细菌群落，并在夏季和秋季从附近的森林地面上的蛙类中确定群落组成是否因性别，春季池位或整个季节而不同（春季，夏季，秋季）。分类单元的相对丰度数据揭示了细菌门的特征，与先前在无氧皮肤上描述的细菌相似，其中变形杆菌，拟杆菌和放线菌主导了木蛙皮肤微生物组。我们的结果表明，性别对皮肤微生物群的多样性没有显着影响。但是，这可能是由于我们的雌性蛙样本数量有限所致。春季池位对皮肤微生物群的影响很小，但很明显，但是与皮肤相关的群落比在青蛙各自的池塘水中观察到的群落更相似。在整个季节中，多样性分析表明，春季和夏季/秋季组的青蛙的细菌皮肤微生物组之间存在显着差异，而每只青蛙的平均α多样性保持一致。这些结果说明了木蛙皮肤微生物组结构的季节性变化，并强调了考虑两栖微生物组的时间趋势的重要性，特别是对于其生活史需要经常改变栖息地和行为的物种。多样性分析表明，春季和夏季/秋季组的青蛙的细菌皮肤微生物组之间存在显着差异，而每只青蛙的平均α多样性保持一致。这些结果说明了木蛙皮肤微生物组结构的季节性变化，并强调了考虑两栖微生物组的时间趋势的重要性，特别是对于其生活史需要经常改变栖息地和行为的物种。多样性分析表明，春季和夏季/秋季组的青蛙的细菌皮肤微生物组之间存在显着差异，而每只青蛙的平均α多样性保持一致。这些结果说明了木蛙皮肤微生物组结构的季节性变化，并强调了考虑两栖微生物组的时间趋势的重要性，特别是对于其生活史需要经常改变栖息地和行为的物种。