遺伝ツールが絶滅危惧コウモリの健康状態を明らかに(Genomic Tools Provide Clearer View of Health for Endangered Bats)

2025-02-26 イリノイ大学

<関連情報>

• https://aces.illinois.edu/news/genomic-tools-provide-clearer-view-health-endangered-bats
• https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/mgen/10.1099/mgen.0.001358

インディアナコウモリ(Myotis sodalis)のEimeria属寄生虫の分子疫学と糞便マイクロバイオーム:絶滅危惧種の非侵襲的多重メタバーコード調査 Molecular epidemiology of Eimeria spp. parasites and the faecal microbiome of Indiana bats (Myotis sodalis): a non-invasive, multiplex metabarcode survey of an endangered species

Andrew J. Bennett^​, Cory D. Suski^​ and Joy M. O’Keefe
Microbial Genomics  Published: 26 February 2025
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1099/mgen.0.001358

Abstract

Assessing individual and population health in endangered wildlife poses unique challenges due to the lack of an adequate baseline and ethical constraints on invasive sampling. For endangered bats, minimally invasive samples like guano can often be the ethical and technical limit for studies of pathogens and the microbiome. In this study, we use multiplex metabarcode sequencing to describe the faecal microbiome and parasites of 56 Indiana bats (Myotis sodalis). We show evidence of a high prevalence of Eimeria spp. protozoan parasite and characterize associations between infection and changes to the faecal microbiome. We identify a strong and significant enrichment of Clostridium species in Eimeria-positive bats, including isolates related to Clostridium perfringens.