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Story summary
- ZSL herpetologist Phillip Jervis and his team reported that common midwife toads in the Pyrenees survive chytrid fungus thanks to a highly diverse skin peptide repertoire.
- They cataloged 1,152 skin peptides, with only seven previously known.
- Greater peptide diversity during the tadpole stage predicted survival of fungal outbreaks.
- Lower diversity predicted higher mortality in the same outbreaks.
- Alethea Tabor said the new peptides could become leads for human antimicrobial drugs.
