Project:

Living on Poison: Skin Microbiota Profiling in Toxic (Dendrobatidae) versus Non-Toxic (Hylidae) Frogs

Students:

Wing Yee Chan, Favour Ajayi

Institution:

St. John's University, Queens

Mentors:

Genrietta Yagudayeva

Abstract:

Poison dart frogs (Dendrobatidae) sequester dietary alkaloids as a form of chemical defense, whereas non-toxic (Hylidae) frogs lack this adaptation; we propose that this difference also leads to variable skin-associated microbial communities. We propose to use metagenomics to characterize and compare the skin microbiomes of toxic and non-toxic frogs, investigating how the presence of alkaloids shapes microbial diversity, composition, and function. We will extract DNA from RNAlater-preserved frog skin samples, perform 16S rRNA microbial sequencing, and reconstruct their genomes to identify taxa and functional genes. Phylogenetic and comparative analyses will assess patterns of microbial profiling across frog species and correlate microbial profiles with alkaloid levels. By integrating such data, our study aims to determine whether chemical defenses exert selective pressure on microbial communities and to elucidate the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms driving host-microbe-toxin int

Poster: