- Toulouse researchers demonstrate that biodiversity makes it possible to naturally fight against new diseases.
- In particular thanks to the microbiome, these communities of viruses or bacteria that are found on the surface of the skin, in humans as in animals.
- Unfortunately, this natural shield is particularly sensitive to pollution and climate change.
Another reason, if any, to take care of the planet in the post-Covid world. Researchers from the National Agronomic School of Toulouse (INP-ESAT) * have just published the results of a study on the expression of diseases. She concludes, taking the example of amphibians, that biodiversity strengthens immunity. Including biodiversity invisible to the naked eye.
Because the originality of the work of these scientists is to introduce a new parameter: the microbiome. "This is the microbial community made up of bacteria, viruses and fungi, which are found in our digestive tract but also, for humans and animals, on the surface, on the skin," explains Adeline. Loyau, co-author of the study.
A strip of microorganisms as the first bulwark
"These microorganisms, which live and organize together, constitute our first line of defense, the first bulwark against pathogens", adds Dirk Schmeller, holder of the Axa Chair in Functional Mountain Ecology at INP Toulouse.
To support their demonstration, the researchers took the example of a deadly fungus which in particular decimates frogs in America, damaging their skin and then causing them to have heart attacks. "Amphibians, much more than other emblematic species, are the most endangered vertebrates on the planet", underlines Adeline Loyau. However, the more diverse their microbiome, the more complex their habitats, the more they resist this fungus, and the lower their mortality rate. In particular for certain thanks to a fungicidal bacterium present in their very sticky microbiome and which immunizes them.
Risks of appearance of new diseases
The bad news is that the microbiome is sensitive to pollution and climate change. Because a bacteria is easy to disturb, under the effect for example of a fluctuation in temperature. And the whole Meccano of the natural shield collapses. "Climate change and the loss of biodiversity are stressors for ecosystems," says Dirk Schmeller. This is true for humans, for animals and for the microbiome. Our research shows that if the different axes of the disease pyramid are destabilized, new infectious diseases can appear, with the risks that this represents for humans. And of which everyone is well aware now.
* From the Ecolab lab (CNRS-UPS-Toulouse-INP)
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- Virus
- Frog
- Disease
- Biodiversity
- Coronavirus
- Toulouse
- Planet