P504 Screening of Belgian bats and hibernacula for the description of related fungal microbiomes and the detection of Pseudogymnoascus destructans

Abstract Poster session 3, September 23, 2022, 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM Bats can be affected by fungal pathogens such as Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the causative agent of the white-nose syndrome. Their body surface can also be colonized by fungal commensals or carry transient fungal species and participate in their dispersal. The present study aimed to assess the presence of P. destructans in Northern Belgium, to describe the skin mycobiome of active bats during summer and autumn, and to analyze possible differences in fungal diversity among bat species, sampling sites, and seasons. In total, 114... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Debergh, Hanne
Becker, Pierre
Van den Eynde, Claudia
Baert, Frederik
D'hooge, Elizabet
De Pauw, Robby
Normand, Anne-Cécile
Piarroux, Renaud
Stubbe, Dirk
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2022
Reihe/Periodikum: Medical Mycology ; volume 60, issue Supplement_1 ; ISSN 1369-3786 1460-2709
Verlag/Hrsg.: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Schlagwörter: Infectious Diseases / General Medicine
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-26497685
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mmy/myac072.p504

Abstract Poster session 3, September 23, 2022, 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM Bats can be affected by fungal pathogens such as Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the causative agent of the white-nose syndrome. Their body surface can also be colonized by fungal commensals or carry transient fungal species and participate in their dispersal. The present study aimed to assess the presence of P. destructans in Northern Belgium, to describe the skin mycobiome of active bats during summer and autumn, and to analyze possible differences in fungal diversity among bat species, sampling sites, and seasons. In total, 114 bat specimens belonging to seven species were sampled from various localities. Culture-based methods revealed an important mycological diversity with 209 different taxa. Overall, a mean of 3.7 taxa per bat was recorded but significant differences were observed between sampling sites and seasons with a higher diversity in autumn as compared to summer. The mycobiomes were dominated by cosmopolitan and plant-associated species, in particular from the genera Cladosporium, Penicillium, and Aspergillus. Other species known to be related to bats or their environment, like Apiotrichum otae, were also retrieved. Although P. destructans was not detected, the sampling of the hibernacula indicated that they can be inhabited by diverse fungal species including a yet undescribed Pseudogymnoascus species, distinct from P. destructans, namely P. cavicola, sp. nov.