Environmental stressors, such as
pollutants, can increase
disease risk in wildlife. For example, the herbicide
atrazine affects host defences (e.g. resistance and tolerance) of the
amphibian chytrid
fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), but the mechanisms for these
associations are not entirely clear. Given that
pollutants can alter the
gut microbiota of hosts, which in turn can
affect their
health and
immune systems, one potential mechanism by which
pollutants could increase
infection risk is by influencing host-associated
microbiota. Here, we test whether early-
life exposure to the estimated environmental concentration (
EEC; 200 µg/L) of
atrazine affects the gut bacterial composition of Cuban
tree frog (Osteopilus septentrionalis)
tadpoles and
adults and whether any
atrazine-induced change in
community composition might
affect host defences against Bd. We also determine whether early-
life changes in the stress
hormone corticosterone affect gut microbiota by experimentally inhibiting
corticosterone synthesis with
metyrapone. With the exception of changing the relative abundances of two bacterial genera in adulthood,
atrazine did not
affect gut bacterial diversity or
community composition of
tadpoles (in vivo or
in vitro) or
adults.
Metyrapone did not significantly
affect bacterial diversity of
tadpoles, but significantly increased bacterial diversity of
adults. Gut bacterial diversity during Bd exposure did not predict host tolerance or resistance to Bd intensity in
tadpoles or
adults. However, early-
life bacterial diversity negatively predicted Bd intensity as
adult frogs. Specifically, Bd intensity as
adults was associated negatively with the relative abundance of phylum
Fusobacteria in the guts of
tadpoles. Our results suggest that the effect of
atrazine on Bd
infection risk is not mediated by host-associated
microbiota because
atrazine does not
affect microbiota of
tadpoles or
adults. However, host-associated microbes seem important in host resistance to Bd because the early-
life microbiota, during
immune system development, predicted later-
life infection risk with Bd. Overall, our study suggests that increasing gut bacterial diversity and relative abundances of
Fusobacteria might have lasting positive effects on
amphibian health.