Jeffrey M. Lorch Daniel L. Lindner Michael O’Connor Andrea Gargas David S. Blehert Laura K. Muller 2013 <p>The fungus <i>Geomyces destructans</i> is the causative agent of white-nose syndrome (WNS), a disease that has killed millions of North American hibernating bats. We describe a real-time TaqMan PCR test that detects DNA from <i>G. destructans</i> by targeting a portion of the multicopy intergenic spacer region of the rRNA gene complex. The test is highly sensitive, consistently detecting as little as 3.3 fg of genomic DNA from <i>G. destructans</i>. The real-time PCR test specifically amplified genomic DNA from <i>G. destructans</i> but did not amplify target sequence from 54 closely related fungal isolates (including 43 <i>Geomyces</i> spp. isolates) associated with bats. The test was further qualified by analyzing DNA extracted from 91 bat wing skin samples, and PCR results matched histopathology findings. These data indicate the real-time TaqMan PCR method described herein is a sensitive, specific, and rapid test to detect DNA from <i>G. destructans</i> and provides a valuable tool for WNS diagnostics and research.</p> application/pdf 10.3852/12-242 en Mycological Society of America Bat white-nose syndrome: a real-time TaqMan polymerase chain reaction test targeting the intergenic spacer region of <i>Geomyces destructans</i>tructans. article