White-nose syndrome restructures bat skin microbiomes

Area of Science:

• Microbiology and Wildlife Disease Ecology

Background:

• Microbiome research often faces challenges due to complex microbial communities.
• Disease etiology may be linked to overall microbiome characteristics rather than individual microbes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between invasive fungal pathogens and the bacterial microbiome in bats.
• To explore how microbiome-host interactions influence susceptibility to disease.

Main Methods:

• Correlating the presence of the fungal pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd) with alterations in the bacterial microbiomes of bat species.
• Comparative analysis of microbiome changes in *Myotis lucifugus* and *Perimyotis subflavus*.

Main Results:

• Fungal pathogen presence was associated with specific changes in bat bacterial microbiomes.
• Contrasting relationships were observed between Pd and the microbiomes of *Myotis lucifugus* and *Perimyotis subflavus*.

Conclusions:

• Microbiome-host interactions likely play a role in determining disease susceptibility in bats.
• Further research is needed to fully understand bat microbiome dynamics in response to fungal pathogens like Pd.