@article{8580576,
  abstract     = {{Recently emerged fungal diseases, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) and Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) are an increasing threat to amphibians worldwide. In Europe, the threat of Bsal to salamander populations is demonstrated by the rapid decline of fire salamander populations in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. Although most European urodelans are susceptible to infection in infection trials, recent evidence suggests marked interspecific differences in the course of infection, with potentially far reaching implications for salamander conservation. As a salamander's skin is the first line of defense against such pathogens, interspecific differences in innate immune function of the skin may explain differential susceptibility. Here we investigate if compounds present on a salamander's skin can kill Bsa/spores and if there is variation among species. We used a non-invasive assay to compare killing ability of salamander mucosomes of four different species (captive and wild Salamandra salamandra and captive Ichtyosaura alpestris, Cynops pyrrhogaster and Lissotriton helveticus) by exposing Bsa/zoospores to salamander mucosomes and determining spore survival. In all samples, zoospores were killed when exposed to mucosomes. Moreover, we saw a significant variation in this Bsal killing ability of mucosomes between different salamander host species. Our results indicate that mucosomes of salamanders might provide crucial skin protection against Bsal, and could explain why some species are more susceptible than others. This study represents a step towards better understanding host species variation in innate immune function and disease susceptibility in amphibians.}},
  articleno    = {{e0199295}},
  author       = {{Smith, Hannah Keely and Pasmans, Frank and Dhaenens, Maarten and Deforce, Dieter and Bonte, Dries and Verheyen, Kris and Lens, Luc and Martel, An}},
  issn         = {{1932-6203}},
  journal      = {{PLOS ONE}},
  keywords     = {{ANTIMICROBIAL PEPTIDE DEFENSES,EMERGING INFECTIOUS-DISEASE,FROG RANA-MUSCOSA,CHYTRID FUNGUS,AMPHIBIAN SKIN,CUTANEOUS BACTERIA,CHYTRIDIOMYCOSIS,SECRETIONS,DENDROBATIDIS,TETRODOTOXIN}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{7}},
  pages        = {{14}},
  title        = {{Skin mucosome activity as an indicator of Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans susceptibility in salamanders}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0199295}},
  volume       = {{13}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}

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