Anthropogenic influence on the skin microbiota of a syntropic anuran in the Atlantic rainforest in northeast Brazil

Abstract

Abstract Environmental disturbances caused by anthropogenic activities include a loss of habitat and a restructuring of the ecological interactions of biodiversity. Species adapted to the urban ecosystem - synanthropic - can have their cryptic interactions with microorganisms altered. In the case of anurans, the skin bacterial microbiota plays a fundamental role in host protection. However, it is not known how the composition and diversity of the skin microbiota of Scinax x-signatus, a synanthropic anuran, behaves in different fragments. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the composition and diversity of the skin microbiota of Scinax x-signatus in two areas with different degrees of anthropisation in north-eastern Brazil. Eleven individuals of S. x-signatus had their skin microbiota sampled in a control area and an anthropised area of the Recife Botanical Garden (JBR). We reported 21 bacterial isolates that belong to 11 species and 3 families (Enterobacteriaceae, Bacillaceae and Moraxellaceae). Enterobacteria were more frequent, among which we report two species with pathogenic potential found on the skin of treefrogs from the anthropised area - Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. In the control area, Enterobacter hormaechei was an environmental indicator specie. The anthropised area was more diverse than the control area. With the exception of E. coli and K. pneumoniae, the species found have been previously reported as part of the cutaneous microbiota of anurans. The greater diversity of the anthropised area highlights the importance of anthropogenic changes in the emergence of transmission routes for pathogens with zoonotic potential to vertebrates, an indication of environmental quality.