In this study, we overcome previous limitations by quantitatively examining the relationship between skin sloughing and Bd infection progression in the susceptible frog species, Litoria caerulea (Fig. 1 ). By utilizing infrared cameras to record behaviours, we were able to accurately measure sloughing rates in infected and healthy amphibians. First, we hypothesized that sloughing rates would increase in Bd‐infected frogs, possibly indicating an immune response. Secondly, we hypothesized that exposure timing with respect to the sloughing cycle would influence infection outcome, with frogs exposed just after sloughing more likely to develop infection than those exposed just before sloughing. Finally, because sloughing can reduce cutaneous microbial loads (Meyer et al . 2012 ), we hypothesized that Bd infection load would be lower immediately following a sloughing event. By measuring sloughing rates directly for the first time, we provide a much clearer picture of how Bd interacts with the physiological processes of the skin and shed light on how variation in skin sloughing frequency may play a role in the observed inter‐ and intraspecific variation in susceptibility to disease (Voyles, Rosenblum & Berger 2011 ; Meyer et al . 2012 ).

While abnormal sloughing is a symptom of chytridiomycosis in terminally ill animals (Berger et al . 1998 ; Longcore, Pessier & Nichols 1999 ), there is still speculation about the relationship between disease progression and changes in skin sloughing before exponential pathogen growth on the skin occurs. Anecdotal reports indicate an increase in the amount of sloughed skin associated with Bd‐infected hosts (either on the individual, or within enclosures; Berger et al . 1998 ; Davidson et al . 2003 ; Bovero et al . 2008 ; Padgett‐Flohr 2008 ; Becker & Harris 2010 ; Carver, Bell & Waldman 2010 ). This has been attributed to an increase in sloughing rate, but there is little evidence to support this claim directly. It is unclear whether sloughing rate actually increases following Bd infection, or if ingestion of sloughed skin decreases, or if sloughing is occurring in many small pieces, rather than as a whole, making it seem more frequent (Meyer et al . 2012 ). This confusion arises because of a reliance on observational data obtained by counting sloughed skin pieces within enclosures (Davidson et al . 2003 ; Padgett‐Flohr 2008 ); such an approach cannot discriminate among the possible causes of an increase in the amount of sloughed skin associated with Bd‐infected hosts.

Finally, exposure to and subsequent infection with Bd may directly interrupt or impair the sloughing mechanism. This is consistent with many observations of ‘abnormal sloughing’ in infected amphibians, including sloughing frequently and in small pieces (Davidson et al . 2003 ). However, sloughing in small pieces at the point of pathogen invasion may also be an innate immune response (Dahl 1993 ) and thus extremely important in ridding amphibians of localized infections in the early stages of pathogen invasion.

Secondly, if sloughing effectively eliminates the microbial community on the skin of an amphibian, infection outcome may be dependent on the timing of exposure with respect to the sloughing cycle. Exposure immediately before a sloughing event could prevent immediate establishment of the pathogen, delaying reinfection and an increase in infection load, and possibly remove the pathogen entirely (Duneau & Ebert 2012 ). Conversely, exposure directly after a sloughing event may render an individual more vulnerable, given that zoospores would have more time to encyst in the deeper epidermal cell layers before the next sloughing event occurs (Greenspan, Longcore & Calhoun 2012 ; Van Rooij et al . 2012 ).

The routine process of sloughing might be beneficial or detrimental in the face of a cutaneous pathogen, such as Bd. First, given that heat therapy is known to clear Bd infection in some species (Woodams, Alford & Marantelli 2003 ), and sloughing rate increases with temperature (Meyer et al . 2012 ; Cramp et al . 2014 ), higher temperatures may help individuals rid themselves of disease by increasing moult frequency (Berger et al . 2004 ). But, while sloughing has been hypothesized to be beneficial if it removes unwanted cutaneous pathogens (Davidson et al . 2003 ; Berger et al . 2004 ; Becker & Harris 2010 ; Greenspan, Longcore & Calhoun 2012 ; Meyer et al . 2012 ), it may also be harmful if excessive sloughing contributes to water and electrolyte imbalance (Jørgensen 1949 ; Voyles, Rosenblum & Berger 2011 ). In addition, sloughing may further disease progression by revealing newly keratinized epidermis that is free of cutaneous symbiotic bacteria. It has been demonstrated that some symbiotic microbes on the skin of amphibians can prevent morbidity associated with Bd infection (Harris et al . 2009 ; Becker & Harris 2010 ), thus sloughing may actually increase susceptibility to disease.

Amphibian skin is a dynamic organ that functions in osmoregulation, ion and acid–base balance, and gas exchange (Boutilier et al . 1992 ). Considered more permeable than the skin of most vertebrates, the amphibian integument plays a vital role in maintaining physiological homoeostasis (Boutilier et al . 1992 ; Voyles et al . 2010 ). To keep skin functioning and in optimal condition, the thin outer layer of keratinized skin cells, or stratum corneum , is regularly shed and replaced in a process called sloughing, the last step in epidermal turnover (Barker Jørgensen 1988 ). Healthy frogs slough regularly, anywhere from every day to every other week, and sloughing rate varies across species and is positively correlated with temperature (Stefano & Donoso 1964 ; Castanho & de Luca 2001 ; Meyer et al . 2012 ; Cramp et al . 2014 ). Recent work indicates that periodic skin sloughing results in up to a 100% short‐term reduction of cutaneous flora and fauna (Meyer et al . 2012 ; Cramp et al . 2014 ). Thus, sloughing periodicity may play an important role in regulating the establishment and growth of Bd on the skin, and subsequent pathogenicity.

While fungal pathogens have long been considered a threat to global plant species, particularly in agriculture, devastating effects of pathogenic fungi on animals have only recently been documented (Jones et al . 2008 ; Fisher et al . 2012 ). The most pervasive example is Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), a skin‐invading fungal pathogen of amphibians that has driven more vertebrate biodiversity loss than any other pathogen in recorded history (Stuart et al . 2004 ; Skerratt et al . 2007 ). Bd has been reported to have infected over 500 species world‐wide (Kilpatrick, Briggs & Daszak 2010 ; http://www.bd-maps.net/surveillance/ ), but not all amphibian species are equally susceptible, and some populations persist with disease, while others decline (Alford & Richards 1999 ; Woodhams & Alford 2005 ; Lips et al . 2006 ; Kriger, Pereoglou & Hero 2007 ; Van Sluys & Hero 2009 ; Briggs, Knapp & Vredenburg 2010 ; Tobler & Schmidt 2010 ; Ohmer et al . 2013 ). Bd only infects the superficial layers of an amphibian's skin, and yet, exponential growth of the fungus can lead to disruption of cutaneous functioning and eventually mortality (Voyles et al . 2009 ). While there have been many advances in understanding the ecology and epidemiology of this disease, research is still hindered by a lack of basic biological understanding of the host–pathogen relationship (Voyles, Rosenblum & Berger 2011 ). Thus, in order to ultimately understand variation in susceptibility across species, we need to better understand the processes governing amphibian skin function in the presence of disease.

To determine whether the time (hours) to first sloughing event post‐exposure influenced the Time to endpoint (days, log‐transformed) for Clinical frogs during the experimental period, a linear regression was performed (function ‘lm’, base package, R Core Team 2013 ). The endpoint was removal from the experiment for treatment after the development of advanced clinical signs. A mixed‐effects model was also used to assess the relationship between Mass (g) or SVL (mm) and both ∆ IMI and IMI for all frogs, with frog ID as a random effect. Finally, the relationship between frog Mass (g) and Time to endpoint (days) was also assessed with a linear regression (function ‘lm’, R base package, R Core Team 2013 ).

Exposed frogs were later divided into an additional three categories based on infection outcome: Uninfected, Nonclinical and Clinical. Uninfected frogs never tested positive for Bd and never demonstrated clinical signs of chytridiomycosis. Nonclinical frogs tested positive for Bd but never demonstrated clinical signs during the experimental period, whereas Clinical frogs tested positive and demonstrated clinical signs. To compare the change in Bd load (ZE, averaged from triplicate results) over time in the Clinical and Nonclinical groups, we fitted a linear mixed‐effects model (function ‘lme’, package ‘nlme’, Pinheiro et al . 2013 ) including Group (Clinical or Nonclinical), Days post‐exposure , Days post‐exposure 2 (quadratic term) and the random effect Frog ID . The response variable, Bd load, was log +1‐transformed to normalize the data. The relationship between Bd load (ZE) over time and IMI in Clinical frogs was also compared with a linear mixed‐effects model, with Frog ID as a random effect.

All analyses were performed in the program R (R Core Team 2013 ). Change in IMI from pre‐ to post‐exposure among Control, Infected (exposed frogs that tested positive for Bd) and Uninfected (exposed frogs that tested negative for Bd) frogs was compared with a linear mixed‐effects model (function ‘lme’, package ‘nlme’, Pinheiro et al . 2013 ). IMI is defined as the time in hours between sloughing events; the shorter the IMI, the faster the sloughing rate for an individual frog. ∆ IMI (IMI – mean pre‐exposure IMI) was the response variable, and fixed effects included Group (Control, Infected or Uninfected), Cycle (slough cycle number post‐exposure ) and the interaction between these effects. Frog ID was included as a random effect to take into account the correlated error from taking multiple measurements on the same individual. All model fitting was performed using maximum likelihood (Pinheiro & Bates 2000 ), and comparisons of nested models were performed with likelihood ratio tests (function ‘anova’, R base package [51]).

Frogs were monitored daily for clinical signs of chytridiomycosis, including lethargy, inappetence, abnormal posture, pieces of sloughed skin not fully removed or visible within enclosure, and loss of righting reflex, as well as discoloured or reddened skin, and weight loss (Nichols, Pessier & Longcore 1998 ; Daszak et al . 1999 ; Nichols et al . 2001 ). If a frog demonstrated advanced clinical signs, including slow righting reflex and body mass loss, it was removed from the experiment and treated with 20 mg L −1 topical chloramphenicol, placed in an incubator at 28 °C for up to 14 days (Young et al . 2012 ), and given oral 12% Whitaker–Wright solution (242 mmol L −1 NaCl, 4·3 mmol L −1 MgSO 4 7H 2 0, 2·85 mmol L −1 CaCl 2 , 2·85 mmol L −1 KCl) daily to help correct electrolyte imbalance (Voyles et al . 2009 ).

In order to measure infection load before and after sloughing occurred, sloughing events were predicted based on their cyclical nature and frogs were swabbed before and after. It was determined that sloughing events were predictable after watching many hours of video footage. Frogs often sloughed at the same time of day, on a consistent cycle. This allowed us to predict sloughing events with some accuracy and swab frogs before and after a sloughing event occurred. We confirmed that frogs were swabbed before or after a sloughing event by reviewing the video footage. If a sloughing event did not occur between predicted before and after swabs, those swabs were excluded from analyses. Timing of swabs ranged from 3 min to 55 h before or after the sloughing event, so the time between sloughing and swabbing was taken into account in analyses.

Given the possibility of infection in natural L. caerulea populations, frogs were tested for Bd using quantitative PCR prior to beginning the experiment (Boyle et al . 2004 ; Hyatt et al . 2007 ). Infection load was then monitored by swabbing all frogs beginning two weeks after exposure, and then monthly and opportunistically before and after select sloughing events. The swabbing protocol involved firmly running a sterile fine‐tipped cotton swab (MW100‐100; Medical Wire & Equipment, Wiltshire, England) three times over the frog's ventral surface (including drink patch), sides, thighs, feet, webbing and toes (Kriger et al . 2006 ; Retallick & Miera 2007 ). Swabs were then extracted in 50 μL PrepMan Ultra (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA) and analysed in triplicate with quantitative PCR (Boyle et al . 2004 ; Hyatt et al . 2007 ) on a Mini Opticon real‐time PCR detection system (MJ Mini Cycler, Bio‐Rad Laboratories, Inc.) to determine infection load in zoospore equivalents (ZE). A modified 15‐μL reaction volume was used (Garland et al . 2010 ; see Appendix S1 for details).

We employed a closed‐circuit infrared continuous video monitoring system (Generic 16 channel H.264 digital video recorder, model MDR688ZB (AU)‐E, 600TVL Weatherproof infrared cameras, model CI20B‐65H) to record when frogs sloughed their skin. Slough monitoring began two weeks before experimental exposure to determine the baseline sloughing rate for each individual. In addition, frogs were marked with a small amount of non‐toxic waterproof ink on their dorsal surface and checked twice daily to record the disappearance of a mark, which would indicate that sloughing had occurred. Once a mark disappeared, it was reapplied. This marking system helped to pinpoint when to review the recorded video to confirm the occurrence of sloughing. The time in hours between sloughing events was termed the intermoult interval (IMI).

Bd strain EPS4 isolated by E.P. Symonds (The School of Veterinary Sciences, The University of Queensland) from a Mixophyes fleayi tadpole in March 2012, originating from Gap Creek, Main Range National Park, Queensland, Australia, was used for experimental infection. Cultures were maintained at 4 °C until four days before exposure date. The strain was then passaged onto 25 new 1% agar, 0·5% tryptone, 0·5% tryptone‐soy plates, to be maintained at 21 °C. After four days, zoospores were harvested by flooding plates with sterile distilled water for 30 min with periodic gentle agitation. Zoospore suspension was then collected, and zoospore concentration was calculated using a haemocytometer following Boyle et al . ( 2004 ).

This study was conducted with the widespread Australian green tree frog ( Litoria caerulea ; see Appendix S1 in supporting information for more details on the study species). Litoria caerulea [ n = 21, SVL (mm) = 70·1 ± SD 5·0, both sexes] were collected from wet roads in non‐protected areas of southeast Queensland. Sterile gloves were worn when handling animals, and gloves were changed between frogs to prevent the possibility of disease transmission. Frogs were placed (individually) in moistened plastic bags and transported to The University of Queensland. Upon return, frogs were housed individually in ventilated clear plastic containers (26·2 × 23·7 × 12 cm) on a substrate of paper towels saturated with 100–150 mL of aged tap water and PVC pipe for shelter. On a weekly basis, frogs were fed five large crickets and enclosures were cleaned. Lighting and temperature regime replicated natural conditions, with a 12‐h photoperiod and daily temperatures increasing from an overnight minimum of 15 °C to a daytime maximum of 23 °C (see Fig. S1 in Appendix S1).

Also, Time to endpoint (days, log‐transformed) was not significantly predicted by the timing of the first sloughing event post‐exposure (h; F (1,5) = 0·17, R 2 = −0·16, β = −0·0034, SE = 0·0082, P = 0·70). However, there was a marginally significant positive relationship between Time to endpoint (days) and Mass (g; see Appendix S1, Fig. S2; F (1,5) = 6·25, R 2 = 0·47, β = 7·68, SE = 3·07, P = 0·055), with larger frogs harbouring subclinical infections longer than smaller frogs. Finally, neither frog Mass (g) nor SVL (mm) was significantly associated with the change in IMI across all groups (Mass: β = 0·51, SE = 0·29, P = 0·091, 95% CI = −0·087–1·10; SVL: β = 0·47, SE = 0·30, P = 0·13, 95% CI = −0·15–1·10). Overall, frog SVL (mm) was significantly associated with IMI (β = 0·68, SE = 0·28, P = 0·024, 95% CI = 0·10–1·25), but Mass (g) was not (β = 0·55, SE = 0·28, P = 0·062, 95% CI = −0·02–1·13).

The change in Bd load (ZE, averaged from before and after swabs at each timepoint) over the first 75 days post‐exposure was significantly different in Clinical and Nonclinical frogs (Fig. 4 a), with Bd load increasing over time in Clinical frogs, and peaking then diminishing in Nonclinical frogs. Days post‐exposure (β = 0·12, SE = 0·04, P = 0·007, 95% CI = 0·042–0·20), Days post‐exposure 2 (β = −0·0015, SE = 0·00045, P = 0·002, 95% CI = −0·0024 to −0·00069) and the interaction Group*Days post‐exposure (β = 0·072, SE = 0·014, P < 0·00001, 95% CI = 0·045–0·099) were all significant terms in the linear mixed‐effects model (see Appendix S1 for model details, Table S4). The significant squared term demonstrates that the relationship between Bd load and time was nonlinear, and best defined by a quadratic relationship. Overall, mean Bd load was 36 853 ZE (±77 926 SD) for Clinical frogs and 315 ZE (±514 SD) for Nonclinical frogs.

Infected frogs demonstrated a significant negative change in IMI for successive sloughs post‐exposure, indicating an increase in sloughing rate. IMI in infected frogs decreased from a mean of 4·04 days (±0·43 SD) to 3·30 days (±0·43 SD) over the course of the experiment. There were main effects of Group (Infected) (β = 7·98, SE = 3·27, P = 0·025, 95% CI = 1·16–14·80) and an interaction of Group (Infected) * Cycle (β = −1·33, SE = 0·15, P < 0·00001, 95% CI = −1·64 to −1·04) in the model comparing the change in IMI over time between Control, Infected and Uninfected frogs (see Appendix S1 for model details, Table S3). These results demonstrate that IMI changed over time for the infected group (Fig. 2 ). In comparison, IMI did not significantly change for Control (mean = 3·68 d ± 0·42 SD) and Uninfected frogs (mean = 3·99 d ± 0·20 SD; Fig. 2 ). Of all sloughing events, 70% occurred within 4 h of the lights turning off in both Control and Exposed frogs (Fig. 3 ).

Healthy individuals and clinically diseased individuals demonstrated similar sloughing behaviours. However, animals that were heavily infected with Bd and demonstrating clinical signs of disease displayed difficulty in performing the sloughing action. Movement of the hands and feet across the body often propelled the animal across its enclosure or off of the PVC pipe provided for shelter (see Supporting Information for an example video, Video S2, shown at 16x normal speed). Despite this, the duration of sloughing (min, log‐transformed) was not significantly longer in exposed frogs (linear mixed‐effect model with Group (Control or Exposed) and Slough number as fixed effects and Frog ID as a random effect: Group (Exposed), β = 0·031, SE = 0·061, P = 0·61, 95% CI = −0·09–0·16), but duration did decrease over time in both groups ( Slough number, β = −0·007, SE = 0·0025, P = 0·0049, 95% CI = −0·01 to −0·0021; see Appendix S1 for model details, Table S1). As an indication of sloughing quality, we recorded the number of skin pieces found in enclosures. The number of skin pieces found in exposed frog enclosures was significantly greater than the number of skin pieces found in control frog enclosures (linear mixed‐effect model with Group (Control or Exposed) and Week as fixed effects and Frog ID as a random effect: β = 0·65, SE = 0·19, P = 0·0031, 95% CI = 0·25 – 1·06, see Appendix S1 for model details, Table S2). This indicates that the stratum corneum of exposed frogs was no longer being sloughed in one piece, or the action of sloughing was less effective in exposed frogs.

Observed sloughing behaviour was consistent across individuals and aligns with previously published descriptions (Taylor & Ewer 1956 ; Larson 1976 ; Barker Jørgensen 1988 ). Characteristically, the physical behaviour of removing the stratum corneum , as observed on infrared video recordings, was as follows. Prior to sloughing, frogs became inactive and breathing rate noticeably increased. Immediately before the active sloughing phase, individuals assumed a hunched posture, with forelimbs extending in front of the head and back arched. During sloughing, an individual frog rhythmically moved the sides of its body, opened and closed its mouth, and pushed its arms and legs over its dorsum and towards its mouth. This motion brought the sloughed skin into the corners of the frog's mouth, allowing it to be ingested (see Supporting Information for an example video, Video S1, shown at 16x normal speed). The duration of sloughing lasted from 3 to 25 min, with a median of 7 min. Prior to experimental exposure, one individual in the exposed group sloughed for 121 min on one occasion, but this was an extreme outlier.

All frogs were Bd‐negative prior to the start of the experiment. Control frogs ( n = 10) remained healthy and Bd‐negative for the duration of the experiment. Only two exposed frogs never tested positive for Bd infection and are referred to as Uninfected. Of the remaining exposed frogs ( n = 9), five developed advanced clinical signs of chytridiomycosis between 62 and 83 days post‐exposure, while an additional two did not develop these signs until 133–189 days post‐exposure. Three Clinical frogs succumbed rapidly to infection even with treatment and died, but four were successfully treated for chytridiomycosis and cleared infection. The remaining two exposed frogs became infected initially, but later cleared that infection, and were considered Nonclinical.

Discussion

Understanding the host–pathogen relationship is critical for developing informed disease mitigation strategies (Carey 2005; Blaustein et al. 2012). In the case of amphibians infected with Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), a fungal pathogen restricted to the superficial epidermal layers, understanding pathogenesis requires comprehension of a prominent process involved in maintaining amphibian skin function: sloughing. To our knowledge, the present study is the first that attempts to measure the effects of disease progression on amphibian sloughing rates. Our results are threefold: First, sloughing rate increases with infection load in exposed frogs, but not until Bd load reaches high levels. However, the rhythmicity of the sloughing cycle is not disrupted, even at high infection loads. Secondly, there is no effect of exposure timing with respect to the sloughing cycle on infection outcome. And thirdly, the act of sloughing does not appear to significantly reduce infection load on the ventral skin surface. Although a faster sloughing rate might be considered advantageous for Bd‐infected animals, it does not curb the progression of disease and may actually contribute to the loss of physiological homoeostasis seen in terminally ill frogs (Voyles, Rosenblum & Berger 2011) by increasing the disruption of water and electrolyte transport across the skin (Jørgensen 1949).

We found that sloughing rate increased with Bd infection load in infected frogs, but sloughing did not lose rhythmicity. This finding is consistent with anecdotal accounts of an increase in sloughing rates in frogs infected with Bd (Berger et al. 1998; Davidson et al. 2003; Bovero et al. 2008; Padgett‐Flohr 2008; Becker & Harris 2010; Carver, Bell & Waldman 2010). However, the observed increase in sloughing rate did not occur until fairly high infection loads were reached. In adult Litoria caerulea, intermoult interval decreased by 21.2 h (± 4.83 SD) on average at a mean Bd load of 7854 ZE (± 7769 SD) in frogs that developed clinical chytridiomycosis. A recent in vitro study suggests that Bd cell wall constituents might enable the pathogen to evade the immune system of Xenopus laevis by inhibiting the production of lymphocytes and inducing their apoptosis (Fites et al. 2013). If sloughing rate is a skin repair mechanism, a delay in sloughing rate increase may be the result of Bd evading clearance until infection load reaches a critical level. In addition, an increase in sloughing may be linked to a higher metabolic rate in the diseased state, which is connected to the stress response (Peterson et al. 2013).

The timing of sloughing appears to be tightly linked with the light–dark cycle on an infradian (greater than 24 h) rhythm, and this is particularly evident during the sudden but limited drop in intermoult interval in Bd‐infected frogs. This suggests that the plasticity of the sloughing cycle may be constrained by daily light cycles. Previous work indicates that L. caerulea in captivity usually slough soon after lights turn off (Cramp et al. 2014). This pattern was also observed in this study, with 70% of sloughing events occurring within 4 h of lights‐out. ‘Abnormal’ sloughing times, or those that occurred outside of this window, did occur during times of transition from a normal sloughing rate of approximately every four days to an increased sloughing rate of approximately every three days in infected frogs.

While sloughing rates did increase in infected frogs, the sloughing mechanism was not disrupted, even after infected frogs demonstrated advanced clinical signs of chytridiomycosis. Frogs that were treated after developing clinical signs sloughed every 3·30 days on average up until treatment commenced. However, diseased frogs did shed skin in small pieces, and often did not eat shed skin, which is consistent with previous reports (Berger et al. 1998). Chytridiomycosis appears to disrupt skin functioning (Voyles et al. 2009) and integrity (Berger et al. 2005a) but does not appear to interrupt the rhythmicity of characteristic sloughing behaviour, in which the frog assumes a hunched stance and proceeds to manually remove skin through a series of limb and body movements. This implies that endogenous control of this behaviour is likely not affected by skin deterioration caused by chytridiomycosis.

We did not find that the timing of exposure to Bd within the sloughing cycle influenced infection outcome. Previous work in the crustacean Daphnia magna indicated that moulting within 12 h after parasite exposure greatly reduced the possibility of infection (Duneau & Ebert 2012). However, Bd demonstrates qualities of both a microparasite, in that it is a small organism with a short generation time in relation to its hosts, and a macroparasite, in that it does not multiply within the host but relies on self‐reinfection for individual infection intensities to reach clinical levels (Briggs, Knapp & Vredenburg 2010). In this study, there were numerous opportunities for host reinfection beyond initial exposure, both from within the enclosure and from additional zoospores produced from the infected host. Thus, it may be difficult to predict infection outcome from the timing of initial exposure in the sloughing cycle.

Finally, contrary to predictions, sloughing itself did not affect Bd infection load on the ventral skin surface. This was surprising given that previous work indicates sloughing can reduce cultivable cutaneous bacterial and fungal loads almost entirely (Meyer et al. 2012; Cramp et al. 2014). That being said, Bd encysts on the stratum corneum, but can also penetrate this outer layer with a germination tube and develop a zoosporangium in the cell layer immediately below, the stratum granulosum (Greenspan, Longcore & Calhoun 2012; Van Rooij et al. 2012). Thus, although sloughing of the stratum corneum may remove zoospores on this outer layer (i.e. those in the initial stages of attachment or being shed from the host), the animal could remain infected because Bd can persist in the underlying skin layer. In addition, the life cycle of Bd appears to be well adapted to amphibian skin, because the timing of zoosporangium maturation and zoospore release seems to be in sync with the timing of epidermal turnover (Berger et al. 2005a). Thus, sloughing may actually allow a mature zoosporangium to release zoospores external to the host, thereby encouraging self‐reinfection of a newly keratinized epidermis that is free of potentially beneficial antifungal symbiotic bacteria (Berger et al. 2005a; Meyer et al. 2012). Therefore, an increase in Bd load, rather than a sharp drop, might be expected from a skin swab directly after sloughing. Conversely, no change in zoospore numbers from pre‐ to post‐exposure would be expected if frogs were immediately re‐infected from their environment. Our results demonstrate no significant difference between before and after swabs, with a little over half (57%) demonstrating a decrease in Bd load after sloughing. Another possibility is that skin swabbing may not be a reliable method for detecting a change in Bd load on or near a sloughing event, given that pieces of the stratum corneum containing zoosporangium may be inadvertently removed during swabbing and thereby bias the result of quantification. Further work at the cellular level is required to fully understand the relationship between Bd and sloughing, and the changes in infection load that may occur during this turnover.

This is the first study to demonstrate that Bd infection affects skin turnover rates in a susceptible amphibian. In L. caerulea infected with Bd, sloughing rate sustains a limited but significant increase with disease progression. However, given this increase occurs at high infection loads, and sloughing itself does not appear to reduce the cutaneous Bd burden, it seems unlikely that an increased sloughing rate is a beneficial response. Physiologically, moulting may be a vulnerable period for an amphibian, given a temporary increase in skin permeability to water and electrolytes may occur during and after the sloughing event (Jørgensen 1949). Jørgensen (1949) found that immediately after the stratum corneum separated from the underlying epidermis in Bufo bufo, water permeability increased threefold to fourfold and salt permeability increased up to 20‐fold, resulting in a net loss of sodium. In frogs with clinical chytridiomycosis, plasma sodium levels are markedly decreased and electrolyte imbalance is a symptom of severe disease (Voyles et al. 2009, 2012). Thus, an increased sloughing rate may contribute to the imbalance in fluid and electrolyte levels seen in diseased animals (Voyles et al. 2009, 2012). However, the plasticity of the increased sloughing response may vary across species, particularly in those that demonstrate low susceptibility to chytridiomycosis. In particular, a thicker epidermis as a result of more replacement cell layers might confer such sloughing rate plasticity without physiological harm, which has been hypothesized to be the case in the bullfrog, Lithobates catesbeianus (Greenspan, Longcore & Calhoun 2012). Further work is needed to better understand variation in normal sloughing rates across species and size classes in order to make broader conclusions about the role of sloughing in the pathogenesis of Bd.