Maya Z Piccinni1,2, Joy E M Watts1,3, Marie Fourny4, Matt Guille1,2, Samuel C Robson5,6. 1. School of Biological Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK. 2. European Xenopus Resource Centre, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK. 3. Centre for Enzyme Innovation, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK. 4. University of Rouen-Normandy, Rouen, France. 5. Centre for Enzyme Innovation, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK. samuel.robson@port.ac.uk. 6. School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK. samuel.robson@port.ac.uk.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Historically the main source of laboratory Xenopus laevis was the environment. The increase in genetically altered animals and evolving governmental constraints around using wild-caught animals for research has led to the establishment of resource centres that supply animals and reagents worldwide, such as the European Xenopus Resource Centre. In the last decade, centres were encouraged to keep animals in a "low microbial load" or "clean" state, where embryos are surface sterilized before entering the housing system; instead of the conventional, "standard" conditions where frogs and embryos are kept without prior surface treatment. Despite Xenopus laevis having been kept in captivity for almost a century, surprisingly little is known about the frogs as a holobiont and how changing the microbiome may affect resistance to disease. This study examines how the different treatment conditions, "clean" and "standard" husbandry in recirculating housing, affects the skin microbiome of tadpoles and female adults. This is particularly important when considering the potential for poor welfare caused by a change in husbandry method as animals move from resource centres to smaller research colonies. RESULTS: We found strong evidence for developmental control of the surface microbiome on Xenopus laevis; adults had extremely similar microbial communities independent of their housing, while both tadpole and environmental microbiome communities were less resilient and showed greater diversity. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the adult Xenopus laevis microbiome is controlled and selected by the host. This indicates that the surface microbiome of adult Xenopus laevis is stable and defined independently of the environment in which it is housed, suggesting that the use of clean husbandry conditions poses little risk to the skin microbiome when transferring adult frogs to research laboratories. This will have important implications for frog health applicable to Xenopus laevis research centres throughout the world.
BACKGROUND: Historically the main source of laboratory Xenopus laevis was the environment. The increase in genetically altered animals and evolving governmental constraints around using wild-caught animals for research has led to the establishment of resource centres that supply animals and reagents worldwide, such as the European Xenopus Resource Centre. In the last decade, centres were encouraged to keep animals in a "low microbial load" or "clean" state, where embryos are surface sterilized before entering the housing system; instead of the conventional, "standard" conditions where frogs and embryos are kept without prior surface treatment. Despite Xenopus laevis having been kept in captivity for almost a century, surprisingly little is known about the frogs as a holobiont and how changing the microbiome may affect resistance to disease. This study examines how the different treatment conditions, "clean" and "standard" husbandry in recirculating housing, affects the skin microbiome of tadpoles and female adults. This is particularly important when considering the potential for poor welfare caused by a change in husbandry method as animals move from resource centres to smaller research colonies. RESULTS: We found strong evidence for developmental control of the surface microbiome on Xenopus laevis; adults had extremely similar microbial communities independent of their housing, while both tadpole and environmental microbiome communities were less resilient and showed greater diversity. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the adult Xenopus laevis microbiome is controlled and selected by the host. This indicates that the surface microbiome of adult Xenopus laevis is stable and defined independently of the environment in which it is housed, suggesting that the use of clean husbandry conditions poses little risk to the skin microbiome when transferring adult frogs to research laboratories. This will have important implications for frog health applicable to Xenopus laevis research centres throughout the world.
Authors: Andrés E Brunetti; Mariana L Lyra; Weilan G P Melo; Laura E Andrade; Pablo Palacios-Rodríguez; Bárbara M Prado; Célio F B Haddad; Mônica T Pupo; Norberto P Lopes Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Date: 2019-01-22 Impact factor: 11.205
Authors: Margaret McFall-Ngai; Michael G Hadfield; Thomas C G Bosch; Hannah V Carey; Tomislav Domazet-Lošo; Angela E Douglas; Nicole Dubilier; Gerard Eberl; Tadashi Fukami; Scott F Gilbert; Ute Hentschel; Nicole King; Staffan Kjelleberg; Andrew H Knoll; Natacha Kremer; Sarkis K Mazmanian; Jessica L Metcalf; Kenneth Nealson; Naomi E Pierce; John F Rawls; Ann Reid; Edward G Ruby; Mary Rumpho; Jon G Sanders; Diethard Tautz; Jennifer J Wernegreen Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Date: 2013-02-07 Impact factor: 11.205
Authors: Jordan G Kueneman; Laura Wegener Parfrey; Douglas C Woodhams; Holly M Archer; Rob Knight; Valerie J McKenzie Journal: Mol Ecol Date: 2013-10-31 Impact factor: 6.622
Authors: Andrew H Loudon; Douglas C Woodhams; Laura Wegener Parfrey; Holly Archer; Rob Knight; Valerie McKenzie; Reid N Harris Journal: ISME J Date: 2013-12-12 Impact factor: 10.302