Douglas C. Woodhams^1,2*, Ross A. Alford³, Rachael E. Antwis^4,5, Holly Archer¹, Matthew H. Becker^6,7, Lisa K. Belden⁶, Sara C. Bell^3,8,9, Molly Bletz^10,11, Joshua H. Daskin¹², Leyla R. Davis^13,14, Sandra V. Flechas¹⁵, Antje Lauer¹⁶, Antonio Gonzalez¹⁷, Reid N. Harris⁸, Whitney M. Holden¹⁸, Myra C. Hughey⁶, Roberto Ibáñez², Rob Knight^17,19, Jordan Kueneman¹, Falitiana Rabemananjara^20,21, Laura K. Reinert¹⁸, Louise A. Rollins-Smith^18,20,21, Franklin Roman-Rodriguez^1,24, Stephanie D. Shaw⁸, Jenifer B. Walke⁶, and Valerie McKenzie¹

* Corresponding author, current address:

Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, Massachusetts USA

E-mail:  [email protected]

1 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0334, USA

2 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama

3 College of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Centre for Tropical Biodiversity and Climate Change, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia

4 Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, United Kingdom

5 Unit for Environmental Research and Management, North West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa

6 Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061

7 Center for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Washington, D.C. USA

8 One Health Research Group, College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia

9 current address: Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB 3 Townsville MC, Townsville, QLD 4810, Australia

10 Department of Biology, James Madison University, MSC 7801, Harrisonburg, VA, USA

11 current address: Technische Universität Braunschweig, Division of Evolutionary Biology, Zoological Institute, Mendelssohnstr. 4, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany

12 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, United States of America

13 Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland

14 Masoala Halle, Zoo Zürich, Zürichbergstrasse 221, 8044 Zürich

15 Department of Biological Sciences, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia

16 Department of Biology, California State University Bakersfield, 9001 Stockdale Highway, Bakersfield, CA 93311-1022

17 Biofrontiers Institute, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA

18 Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232-2363, USA

19 Howard Hughes Institute and Department of Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO USA

20 IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group-Madagascar Antananarivo Madagascar

21 University of Antananarivo, BP 566, Antananarivo 101,Antananarivo, Madagascar.

22 Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232-2363

23 Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235-1634

24 University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez Campus, University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez, Department of Biology, Street 108 Bo. Miradero Km 1.3, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 00680

Amphibian-skin_bacteria_16S_sequences.fna (MD5: 4cc9026d1aaa6b3f2481a3094824ae84)

Amphibian-skin_bacteria_metadata.txt (MD5: 85b14afa771fd80a6de294ea9b5f991c)

Microbial symbionts of vertebrate skin have an important function in defense of the host against pathogens. In particular, the emerging chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, causes widespread disease in amphibians but can be inhibited via secondary metabolites produced by many different skin-associated bacteria. Similarly, the fungal pathogens of terrestrial salamander eggs Mariannaea elegans and Rhizomucor variabilis are also inhibited by a variety of skin-associated bacteria. Indeed, probiotic therapy against fungal diseases is a recent approach in conservation medicine with growing experimental support. We present a comprehensive Antifungal Isolates Database of amphibian skin-associated bacteria that have been cultured, isolated, and tested for antifungal properties. At the start, this database includes nearly 2000 cultured bacterial isolates from 37 amphibian host species across 18 studies on five continents: Africa, Oceania, Europe, and North and South America. As the research community gathers information on additional isolates, the database will be updated periodically. The resulting database can serve as a conservation tool for amphibians and other organisms, and provides empirical data for comparative and bioinformatic studies. The database consists of a FASTA file containing 16S rRNA gene sequences of the bacterial isolates, and a metadata file containing information on the host species, life-stage, geographic region, and antifungal capacity and taxonomic identity of the isolate.

Key words: amphibian; antifungal; Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis; culture database; disease ecology; microbiota; probiotic therapy; skin pathogens.