Microbiomes in the insectivorous bat species Mops condylurus rapidly converge in captivity.

ABSTRACT: Bats are well known reservoir hosts for RNA and DNA viruses. The use of captive bats in research has intensified over the past decade as researchers aim to examine the virus-reservoir host interface. In this study, we investigated the effects of captivity on the fecal bacterial microbiome of an insectivorous microbat, Mops condylurus, a species that roosts in close proximity to humans and has likely transmitted viral infections to humans. Using amplicon 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we characterized changes in fecal bacterial community composition for individual bats directly at the time of capture and again after six weeks in captivity. We found that microbial community richness by measure of the number of observed operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in bat feces increases in captivity. Import

SUBMITTER: Edenborough KM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7083271 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature