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Fungal Infections and Bats
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Fungal Infections and Bats

A special issue of Journal of Fungi (ISSN 2309-608X). This special issue belongs to the section "Fungal Cell Biology, Metabolism and Physiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 April 2021) | Viewed by 10767

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Gudrun Wibbelt

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
Interests: wildlife pathology; infectious diseases; chiroptera; small mammals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The most famous association between bats and mycotic disease in human patients is certainly Histoplasma caspsulatum-infections caused by this fungus have been contracted while visiting caves inhabited by bats in tropical countries. However, the true spark of interest in fungi and Chiropteran species appeared with the advent of white-nose syndrome in hibernating bats from temperate climate zones, a fatal infection leading to devastating declines in formerly abundant bat populations.

This Special Issue aims to assemble the broader aspects of bats and fungi, not only elucidating the latest research on fungal infection either contracted by bats themselves or bat-borne mycoses in other host species including man, but also revealing insights into the immune response of bats towards fungal organisms. Moreover, knowledge on fungal communities thriving as fungal microflora contained in the gut of the various bat species and their dietary habits is sparse to lacking. Reports on the occurrence of fungal species in the bats’ closer environment like ectoparasites or bat guano are also equally welcome.

Dr. Gudrun Wibbelt
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Fungi is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Chiroptera
  • Mycosis
  • Fungal infection
  • Bat-related fungi
  • Immunology
  • Environment
  • Zoonosis

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 1563 KiB  
Article
Histoplasma capsulatum Isolated from Tadarida brasiliensis Bats Captured in Mexico Form a Sister Group to North American Class 2 Clade
by Tania Vite-Garín, Daniel A. Estrada-Bárcenas, David S. Gernandt, María del Rocío Reyes-Montes, Jorge H. Sahaza, Cristina E. Canteros, José A. Ramírez, Gabriela Rodríguez-Arellanes, Lisandra Serra-Damasceno, Rosely M. Zancopé-Oliveira, John W. Taylor and Maria Lucia Taylor
J. Fungi 2021, 7(7), 529; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof7070529 - 30 Jun 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2467
Abstract
Histoplasma capsulatum is a dimorphic fungus associated with respiratory and systemic infections in mammalian hosts that have inhaled infective mycelial propagules. A phylogenetic reconstruction of this pathogen, using partial sequences of arf, H-anti, ole1, and tub1 protein-coding genes, proposed that [...] Read more.
Histoplasma capsulatum is a dimorphic fungus associated with respiratory and systemic infections in mammalian hosts that have inhaled infective mycelial propagules. A phylogenetic reconstruction of this pathogen, using partial sequences of arf, H-anti, ole1, and tub1 protein-coding genes, proposed that H. capsulatum has at least 11 phylogenetic species, highlighting a clade (BAC1) comprising three H. capsulatum isolates from infected bats captured in Mexico. Here, relationships for each individual locus and the concatenated coding regions of these genes were inferred using parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference methods. Coalescent-based analyses, a concatenated sequence-types (CSTs) network, and nucleotide diversities were also evaluated. The results suggest that six H. capsulatum isolates from the migratory bat Tadarida brasiliensis together with one isolate from a Mormoops megalophylla bat support a NAm 3 clade, replacing the formerly reported BAC1 clade. In addition, three H. capsulatum isolates from T. brasiliensis were classified as lineages. The concatenated sequence analyses and the CSTs network validate these findings, suggesting that NAm 3 is related to the North American class 2 clade and that both clades could share a recent common ancestor. Our results provide original information on the geographic distribution, genetic diversity, and host specificity of H. capsulatum. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fungal Infections and Bats)
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10 pages, 902 KiB  
Article
White-Nose Syndrome Confirmed in Italy: A Preliminary Assessment of Its Occurrence in Bat Species
by Laura Garzoli, Elena Bozzetta, Katia Varello, Andrea Cappelleri, Elena Patriarca, Paolo Debernardi, Marco Riccucci, Angela Boggero, Carolina Girometta and Anna Maria Picco
J. Fungi 2021, 7(3), 192; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof7030192 - 9 Mar 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2505
Abstract
Although no mass mortality has been recorded so far, the precise demographic effect of white-nose syndrome (WNS) on European bats still remains to be ascertained. Following the first isolation of P. destructans in Italy, further surveys were performed to assess the distribution of [...] Read more.
Although no mass mortality has been recorded so far, the precise demographic effect of white-nose syndrome (WNS) on European bats still remains to be ascertained. Following the first isolation of P. destructans in Italy, further surveys were performed to assess the distribution of the fungus in NW Italy and its effects on bats. Data were collected from March 2019 to April 2020 at sites used for hibernation (six sites) and/or for reproduction (four sites) in Piedmont and Aosta Valley. A total of 138 bats, belonging to 10 species, were examined to identify clinical features possibly related to the fungal presence. Culture from swabs and the molecular identification of isolates confirmed the presence of P. destructans in bats from five sites, including two maternal roosts. Dermal fungal infiltration, the criterion to assess the presence of WNS, was observed in biopsies of bats belonging to Myotis blythii, M. daubentonii, M. emarginatus and M. myotis. This is the first report of the disease in Italy. The results suggest a greater susceptibility to the infection of the genus Myotis and particularly of M. emarginatus, possibly due to the long length of its hibernation period. Other fungal dermatophytes were also observed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fungal Infections and Bats)
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13 pages, 1830 KiB  
Article
On the Fly: Tritrophic Associations of Bats, Bat Flies, and Fungi
by Michiel D. de Groot, Iris Dumolein, Thomas Hiller, Attila D. Sándor, Tamara Szentiványi, Menno Schilthuizen, M. Catherine Aime, Annemieke Verbeken and Danny Haelewaters
J. Fungi 2020, 6(4), 361; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof6040361 - 12 Dec 2020
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4979
Abstract
Parasitism is one of the most diverse and abundant modes of life, and of great ecological and evolutionary importance. Notwithstanding, large groups of parasites remain relatively understudied. One particularly unique form of parasitism is hyperparasitism, where a parasite is parasitized itself. Bats (Chiroptera) [...] Read more.
Parasitism is one of the most diverse and abundant modes of life, and of great ecological and evolutionary importance. Notwithstanding, large groups of parasites remain relatively understudied. One particularly unique form of parasitism is hyperparasitism, where a parasite is parasitized itself. Bats (Chiroptera) may be parasitized by bat flies (Diptera: Hippoboscoidea), obligate blood-sucking parasites, which in turn may be parasitized by hyperparasitic fungi, Laboulbeniales (Ascomycota: Laboulbeniomycetes). In this study, we present the global tritrophic associations among species within these groups and analyze their host specificity patterns. Bats, bat flies, and Laboulbeniales fungi are shown to form complex networks, and sixteen new associations are revealed. Bat flies are highly host-specific compared to Laboulbeniales. We discuss possible future avenues of study with regard to the dispersal of the fungi, abiotic factors influencing the parasite prevalence, and ecomorphology of the bat fly parasites. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fungal Infections and Bats)
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