Western Illinois University1, Biological Sciences, Macomb, IL 61455 University of Florida2, Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Gainesville, FL 32611 United States Forest Service3, Shawnee National Forest, Harrisburg, IL 62946
Bats are essential to ecosystem stability; they play an important role in the control of insect populations and plant pollination. White Nose Syndrome (WNS), caused by the fungus Geomyces destructans, is a new disease infecting bats in the USA and Canada. Since winter of 2006 WNS has caused high mortality rates in large cave and mine dwelling bats in Canada and USA. WNS was first reported in New York and has since then spread across the eastern and central United States where it had made its way to the Illinois borders. The major objective of this research was to identify, characterize and compare psychrophilic (“cold loving”) fungal communities associated with seven different bat species in southern Illinois. Bats were trapped using a harp trapping technique following USGS National Wildlife Center protocols. Swabs were taken from the bat wings and were inoculated in situ on petri plates in MEA (Malt Extract Agar) with antibiotics. Samples were incubated at 6°C to select for psychrophilic fungi. From the seven different bat species, approximately 20 to 30 colonies were obtained from each bat, with an average of four unique morphospecies per swabbed- area (2-3cm2). From the swab plates about 300 psychrotolerant pure cultures were obtained. So far 123 samples have been identified to the species level using the ITS rDNA barcode region. Fungal communities were dominated by Ascomycota (116 isolates) followed by Basidiomycota (5) and Zygomycota (2). Most commonly identified order in the Ascomycota include: Eurotiales (28 isolates), Capnodiales (27), Pleosporales (19) and Leotiomycetes incertae sedis (15). Common fungi in bat wings include Penicillium corylophilum, Cladosporium spp, Epicoccum nigrum, and Alternaria. Most abundant species were isolated multiple times from different bat species and caves. Of the fungi that have been identified 15 isolates are Geomyces strains closely related to Geomyces destructans. This research will increase our knowledge about all fungal communities associated with bats before WNS arrival in Illinois.
[Abstract (DOCX)]