Diverse hosts, diverse immune systems: Evolutionary variation in bat immunology.

ABSTRACT: The ability of multiple bat species to host zoonotic pathogens without often showing disease has fostered a growing interest in bat immunology to discover the ways immune systems may differ between bats and other vertebrates. However, interspecific variation in immunological diversity among bats has only begun to be recognized. The order Chiroptera accounts for over 20% of all mammalian species and shows extreme diversity in a suite of correlated ecological traits, such that bats should not be expected to be immunologically homogenous. We review the ecological and evolutionary diversity of chiropteran hosts and highlight case studies emphasizing the range of immune strategies thus far observed across bat species, including responses to SARS-CoV-2. Next, we synthesize and propose hypotheses

SUBMITTER: Becker DJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12412728 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature