Social Immunity in Amphibians: Evidence for Vertical Transmission of Innate Defenses

Amphibian embryos are at risk of microbial infection. Here we find evidence that innate immune defenses, both antimicrobial skin peptides and mutualistic microbiota, of adult glass frogs, Hyalinobatrachium colymbiphyllum, can be transmitted to embryos deposited on leaves above rain forest streams in Panama and can inhibit the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis.