Antibacterial and hemolytic activity of the skin of the terrestrial salamander,Plethodon cinereus

Fredericks, L. Page; Dankert, J.

doi:10.1002/1097-010x(20001001)287:5<340::aid-jez2>3.0.co;2-9

Cited by 29 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…The moist skin of salamander usually makes them reliant on habitats in or near water or in a wetland [7]. There are some symbiotic bacteria on salamander skins, which possibly protect salamanders from microorganism infection.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The First Salamander Defensin Antimicrobial Peptide

et al. 2013

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Antimicrobial peptides have been widely identified from amphibian skins except salamanders. A novel antimicrobial peptide (CFBD) was isolated and characterized from skin secretions of the salamander, Cynops fudingensis. The cDNA encoding CFBD precursor was cloned from the skin cDNA library of C. fudingensis. The precursor was composed of three domains: signal peptide of 17 residues, mature peptide of 41 residues and intervening propeptide of 3 residues. There are six cysteines in the sequence of mature CFBD peptide, which possibly form three disulfide-bridges. CFBD showed antimicrobial activities against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Candida albicans and Escherichia coli. This peptide could be classified into family of β-defensin based on its seqeuence similarity with β-defensins from other vertebrates. Evolution analysis indicated that CFBD was close to fish β-defensin. As far as we know, CFBD is the first β-defensin antimicrobial peptide from salamanders.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Their skin glands secrete poison and antibiotics to protect themselves from predators and against infection of microbial pathogens [10]. F15, the only reported antimicrobial peptide from P.cinereus , showed strong activity against S. aureus [11]. It may be one of the reasons why this salamander was rarely found exhibiting infections.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The First Salamander Defensin Antimicrobial Peptide

et al. 2013

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“…To date, few studies have examined whether salamanders (urodeles), members of the other major group of extant amphibians, also possess such peptides. Skin-derived protein fractions from the terrestrial salamander Plethodon cinereus were found to inhibit the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus but not Escherichia coli (Fredericks and Dankert 2000), while fatty acids extracted from this species inhibited Bacillus cereus but not 13 other species of bacteria and fungi (Rickrode et al, 1986). Our study is the first to examine the effect of skin secretions of salamanders on B. dendrobatidis or ranaviruses, the major pathogens implicated in recent amphibian declines.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 73%

“…Our results suggest that the effect of pH should be taken into consideration in all assays of antimicrobial peptides. Staphylococcus aureus is also inhibited by peptides from plethodontid salamanders (Fredericks and Dankert, 2000) and several frog species (Zasloff, 1987;Goraya et al, 1998Goraya et al, , 2000Matutte et al, 2000;Conlon et al, 2004). Klebsiella pneumoniae was shown to be inhibited by Magainin 2, a peptide from Xenopus laevis (Zasloff, 1987).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antimicrobial Peptide Defenses in the Salamander, Ambystoma Tigrinum, Against Emerging Amphibian Pathogens

Sheafor

Davidson

Parr

et al. 2008

Journal of Wildlife Diseases

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ABSTRACT:Skin peptides were collected from living Ambystoma tigrinum larvae and adults and tested against two emerging pathogens, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and the Ambystoma tigrinum virus (ATV), as well as bacteria isolated from A. tigrinum. Natural mixtures of skin peptides were found to inhibit growth of B. dendrobatidis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Klebsiella sp., but activity against ATV was unpredictable. Skin peptides collected from salamanders held at three environmentally relevant temperatures differed in activity against B. dendrobatidis. Activity of the A. tigrinum skin peptides was found to be strongly influenced by pH.

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“…Factors present in the skin secretions that account for the observed Bd killing need further identification but probably include antimicrobial peptides (AMP) [43]–[45] and/or bacterially produced metabolites [17], [18], [46]. AMPs that play a defensive role against invasion by pathogenic microorganisms have been described for other Ambystomidae and plethodontid species [47]–[49] but not characterized. Hitherto, only the antifungal metabolites 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol, indol-3-carboxaldehyde and violacein have been identified that are secreted by symbiotic bacteria residing on the skin of plethodontid species Plethodon cinereus and Hemidactylium scutatum [17], [46].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resistance to Chytridiomycosis in European Plethodontid Salamanders of the Genus Speleomantes

et al. 2013

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North America and the neotropics harbor nearly all species of plethodontid salamanders. In contrast, this family of caudate amphibians is represented in Europe and Asia by two genera, Speleomantes and Karsenia, which are confined to small geographic ranges. Compared to neotropical and North American plethodontids, mortality attributed to chytridiomycosis caused by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) has not been reported for European plethodontids, despite the established presence of Bd in their geographic distribution. We determined the extent to which Bd is present in populations of all eight species of European Speleomantes and show that Bd was undetectable in 921 skin swabs. We then compared the susceptibility of one of these species, Speleomantes strinatii, to experimental infection with a highly virulent isolate of Bd (BdGPL), and compared this to the susceptible species Alytes muletensis. Whereas the inoculated A. muletensis developed increasing Bd-loads over a 4-week period, none of five exposed S. strinatii were colonized by Bd beyond 2 weeks post inoculation. Finally, we determined the extent to which skin secretions of Speleomantes species are capable of killing Bd. Skin secretions of seven Speleomantes species showed pronounced killing activity against Bd over 24 hours. In conclusion, the absence of Bd in Speleomantes combined with resistance to experimental chytridiomycosis and highly efficient skin defenses indicate that the genus Speleomantes is a taxon unlikely to decline due to Bd.

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Antibacterial and hemolytic activity of the skin of the terrestrial salamander,Plethodon cinereus

Cited by 29 publications

References 26 publications

The First Salamander Defensin Antimicrobial Peptide

The First Salamander Defensin Antimicrobial Peptide

Antimicrobial Peptide Defenses in the Salamander, Ambystoma Tigrinum, Against Emerging Amphibian Pathogens

Resistance to Chytridiomycosis in European Plethodontid Salamanders of the Genus Speleomantes

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