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Updated: Nov 8, 2025

Isolation and Identification of Bacterial Strains from Skin of Terrestrial Amphibians
Published on: June 17, 2025
First line of defence: Skin microbiota may protect anurans from infective larval lungworms
Keith Christian1, Richard Shine2,3, Kimberley A Day1
1Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, 0909, Australia.
Abstract:
Functional roles of the rich microbiota of the skin are not fully understood, but include protection against microbial diseases and other environmental challenges. In experimental studies, we show that reducing the microbiota from cane toad (Rhinella marina) skin by gently wiping with absorptive gauze resulted in threefold higher rates of infection by lungworms (Rhabdias pseudosphaerocephala) following standardised exposure to infective skin-penetrating larvae. Higher concentrations of microbial DNA were associated with lower rates of lungworm entry. Our data suggest that microbial activity on the anuran skin comprises an important line of defence against attack by macroparasites as well as by fungi and other microbes.
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