Characterizing the blood microbiota of omnivorous and frugivorous bats (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) in Casanare, eastern Colombia.

ABSTRACT: Bats are known reservoirs of seemingly-innocuous pathogenic microorganisms (including viruses, bacteria, fungi, and protozoa), which are associated with triggering disease in other zoonotic groups. The taxonomic diversity of the bats' microbiome is likely associated with species-specific phenotypic, metabolic, and immunogenic capacities. To date, few studies have described the diversity of bat blood microbial communities. Then, this study used amplicon-based next generation sequencing of the V4 hypervariable region of the 16S-rRNA gene in blood samples from omnivorous (n = 16) and frugivorous (n = 9) bats from the department of Casanare in eastern Colombia. We found the blood microbiota in bats to be composed of, among others, Bartonella and Mycoplasma bacterial

SUBMITTER: Luna N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10329821 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature