Psychrophilic and psychrotolerant fungi on bats and the presence of Geomyces spp. on bat wings prior to the arrival of white nose syndrome.

ABSTRACT: Since 2006, Geomyces destructans, the causative agent of white nose syndrome (WNS), has killed over 5.7 million bats in North America. The current hypothesis suggests that this novel fungus is an invasive species from Europe, but little is known about the diversity within the genus Geomyces and its distribution on bats in the United States. We documented the psychrophilic and psychrotolerant fungal flora of hibernating bats prior to the arrival of WNS using culture-based techniques. A total of 149 cultures, which were obtained from 30 bats in five bat hibernacula located in four caves and one mine, were sequenced for the entire internal transcribed spacer (ITS) nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) region. Approximately 53 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) at 97% similarity were recovered from ba

SUBMITTER: Johnson LJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3754168 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature