The Mycobiome of Bats in the American Southwest Is Structured by Geography, Bat Species, and Behavior

Abstract

Bats are widespread mammals that play key roles in ecosystems as pollinators and insectivores.However, there is a paucity of information about bat-associated microbes, in particular their fungal communities, despite the important role microbes play in host health and overall host function. The emerging fungal disease, white-nose syndrome, presents a potential challenge to the bat microbiome and understanding healthy bat-associated taxa will provide valuable information about potential microbiomepathogen interactions. To address this knowledge gap, we collected 174 bat fur/skin swabs from 14 species of bats captured in ve locations in New Mexico and Arizona and used high-throughput sequencing of the fungal internal transcribed (ITS) region to characterize bat-associated fungal communities. Our results revealed a highly heterogeneous bat mycobiome that was structured by geography and bat species. Furthermore, our data suggest that bat-associated fungal communities are affected by bat foraging, indicating the bat skin microbiota is dynamic on short time scales. Finally, despite the strong effects of site and species, we found widespread and abundant taxa from several taxonomic groups including the genera Alternaria and Metschnikowia that have the potential to be inhibitory towards fungal and bacterial pathogens.

Gypsum Cave Biofilm Communities are Strongly Influenced by Bat- And Arthropod-Related Fungi

“…They concluded that caves with active bat hibernacula supported bat-related fungi, while caves without bats, but abundant arthropods, contained entomopathogenic fungal genera. The conclusions of this and other papers [ 58 , 64 , 74 – 76 ] were confirmed in this study on biofilms from gypsum caves.…”

“…The entrances to the gypsum caves are open, allowing the entry and roosting of bats. Therefore, the high number of fungal genera identified in the bat microbiome by a few authors [ 45 , 64 , 74 ], and their finding in cave biofilms, are not surprising. Furthermore, Hathaway et al [ 58 ] reported that bat microbiomes have an influence on the cave wall microbiome, and Kokurewicz et al [ 75 ] stated that the number of bats was a key factor determining the occurrence of fungal spores at the hibernation site.…”

When the host’s away, the pathogen will play: the protective role of the skin microbiome during hibernation

“…However, there are various other microbial genera that have shown inhibition ability but are still overlooked. Fungi are among the often disregarded species that have also shown promise in pathogen inhibition [84][85][86]. For example, North American bat species resistant to WNS exhibit a more diverse cutaneous mycobiome compared to WNS-susceptible species [86].…”