Carol U. Meteyer
Benjamin Stading
David S. Blehert
Michelle Verant
2018
<p><span>White-nose syndrome (WNS) is causing significant declines in populations of North American hibernating bats, and recent western and southern expansions of the disease have placed additional species at risk. Understanding differences in species susceptibility and identifying management actions to reduce mortality of bats from WNS are top research priorities. However, the use of wild-caught susceptible bats, such as </span><span id="named-content-5" class="named-content genus-species">Myotis lucifugus</span><span>, as model species for WNS research is problematic and places additional pressure on remnant populations. We investigated the feasibility of using </span><span id="named-content-6" class="named-content genus-species">Tadarida brasiliensis</span><span>, a highly abundant species of bat that tolerates captivity, as the basis for an experimental animal model for WNS. Using methods previously established to confirm the etiology of WNS in </span><span id="named-content-7" class="named-content genus-species">M. lucifugus</span><span>, we experimentally infected 11 </span><span id="named-content-8" class="named-content genus-species">T. brasiliensis</span><span> bats with </span><span id="named-content-9" class="named-content genus-species">Pseudogymnoascus destructans</span><span> in the laboratory under conditions that induced hibernation. We detected </span><span id="named-content-10" class="named-content genus-species">P. destructans</span><span> on all 11 experimentally infected bats, 7 of which exhibited localized proliferation of hyphae within the epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous tissue, similar to invasive cutaneous ascomycosis observed in </span><span id="named-content-11" class="named-content genus-species">M. lucifugus</span><span>bats with WNS. However, the distribution of lesions across wing membranes of </span><span id="named-content-12" class="named-content genus-species">T. brasiliensis</span><span>bats was limited, and only one discrete “cupping erosion,” diagnostic for WNS, was identified. Thus, the rarity of lesions definitive for WNS suggests that </span><span id="named-content-13" class="named-content genus-species">T. brasiliensis</span><span> does not likely represent an appropriate model for studying the pathophysiology of this disease. Nonetheless, the results of this study prompt questions concerning the potential for free-ranging, migratory </span><span id="named-content-14" class="named-content genus-species">T. brasiliensis</span><span> bats to become infected with </span><span id="named-content-15" class="named-content genus-species">P. destructans</span><span> and move the fungal pathogen between roost sites used by species susceptible to WNS.</span></p>
application/pdf
10.1128/mSphere.00250-18
en
American Society for Microbiology
Experimental infection of Tadarida brasiliensis with Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome
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