A salamander’s toxic arsenal: review of skin poison diversity and function in true salamanders, genus Salamandra

Abstract

Terrestrial salamanders of the genus Salamandra represent one of the most prominent groups of amphibians. They are mainly distributed across Europe but also reach Northern Africa and the Near East. Members of the six currently accepted species have long been known to be poisonous; however, work on their toxins was mostly published in German language, and therefore, many nuances of these studies have remained hidden from the majority of herpetologists and toxinologists. Several Salamandra species are called fire salamanders due to their highly contrasted, black-yellow colouration which probably serves to deter predators, although thorough evidence for aposematism in Salamandra is still lacking. Salamandra skin toxins do not only represent a potent antipredator defence but may also have antimicrobial effects. A better understanding of this dual function of Salamandra skin secretions is of utmost importance in the face of the emergence of a fungal disease causing catastrophic declines of fire salamanders in Central Europe, caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans. In this review, we summarize the knowledge on Salamandra toxins, providing a list of the compounds so far isolated from their secretion and focusing on the bioactivity of the major compounds in Salamandra secretions, the steroidal alkaloids. We identify priorities for future research, including a screening of co-occurrence of steroidal alkaloids and tetrodotoxins in salamandrids, chemical characterization of already identified novel steroidal compounds, elucidation of the presence and role of peptides and proteins in the secretion, and experimental in vitro and in vivo study of the interactions between bioactive compounds in Salamandra skin secretions and cutaneous fungal and bacterial pathogens.