10.5061/DRYAD.WH70RXWNB
Mayer, Martin
0000-0002-9905-3625
Aarhus University
Schlippe Justicia, Lia
University of La Laguna
Shine, Richard
Macquarie University
Brown, Gregory
Macquarie University
Data on infection experiments of cane toads
Dryad
dataset
2021
Animal Ecology
Australian Research Council
https://ror.org/05mmh0f86
20190336774
2021-06-09T00:00:00Z
2021-06-09T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blaa229
7075 bytes
3
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
This dataset contains data from an infection experiment described in the
paper: “Mayer, M., Schlippe Justicia, L, Shine, R., & Brown, G. P.
(2021). Host defense or parasite cue: Skin secretions mediate interactions
between amphibians and their parasites. Ecology Letters, in revision”.
Amphibian skin secretions (substances produced by the amphibian plus
microbiota) plausibly act as a first line of defense against
parasite/pathogen attack, but may also provide chemical cues for
pathogens. To clarify the role of skin secretions in host-parasite
interactions, we conducted experiments using cane toads (Rhinella marina)
and their lungworms (Rhabdias pseudosphaerocephala) from the range-core
and invasion-front of the introduced anurans’ range in Australia.
Depending on the geographic area, toad skin secretions can reduce the
longevity and infection success of parasite larvae, or attract lungworm
larvae and enhance their infection success. These striking differences
between the two regions were due both to differential responses of the
larvae, and differential effects of the skin secretions. Our data suggest
that skin secretions play an important role in host-parasite interactions
in anurans, and that the arms race between a host and parasite can rapidly
generate spatial variation in critical features of that interaction.
We obtained cane toads from two geographic areas (column 'toad
origin'): (1) Mareeba, Queensland (17.03° S, 145.43° E) and (2) Halls
Creek, Western Australia (-18.23° S, 127.66° E). Lungworm parasites were
collected from naturally-infected toads from Innisfail, QLD and Kununurra,
WA (column 'L3 origin'). To investigate if skin secretions act
as a defense mechanism by the host or as cue for the parasite, or both, we
infected toads that had either intact or reduced skin secretions (column
'skin_secr'). For infection, we placed toads individually into
round containers containing 20 L3 in 300 µl water. On the 15th day
post-infection, we euthanized the toads and dissected them to count the
number of established nematodes in the lungs. We calculated the proportion
of L3 entering the lung by dividing the number of L3 that established in
the lungs by the number of L3 that entered the host (column
'Prop_entered').
Explanation of the other columns: ID: The identifier of individual toads
used for the experiment. clutch: The identifier of the clutch an
individual originated from. SUL_18.01 and SUL_final: The snout-urostyle
length of the toads on the infection day and on the final day of the
experiment. remaining L3: The number of parasite larvae that remained in
the infection chamber post-infection. L3_entered: The number of parasite
larvae that entered the host. Total_nematodes: The number of parasites
that established in the hosts' lungs.