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Tissue Collection of Bats for -Omics Analyses and Primary Cell Culture
Published on: October 23, 2019
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Diverse hosts, diverse immune systems: Evolutionary variation in bat immunology
Daniel J Becker1, Amanda Vicente-Santos1, Ashley B Reers2
1School of Biological Sciences, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA.
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
|July 3, 2025
Summary
Bat immunology is diverse, with varying immune strategies across species. Further research is crucial to understand the ecological and evolutionary drivers of this immunological diversity in Chiroptera (bats).
Area of Science:
- * Comparative immunology
- * Evolutionary biology
- * Zoonotic disease ecology
Background:
- * Bats (order Chiroptera) host zoonotic pathogens without disease, prompting interest in their unique immunology.
- * Over 20% of mammalian species, bats exhibit extreme ecological and evolutionary diversity, suggesting immunological heterogeneity.
- * Interspecific variation in bat immunological diversity is increasingly recognized but not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- * To review the ecological and evolutionary diversity of Chiroptera.
- * To highlight diverse immune strategies across bat species, including responses to SARS-CoV-2.
- * To propose hypotheses explaining immunological diversity based on pathogen exposure, biogeography, energetics, and environmental stability.
Main Methods:
- * Literature review of chiropteran host diversity and immune strategies.
- * Analysis of immunology-related citations across bat species.
- * Synthesis of existing data to propose hypotheses and identify research priorities.
Main Results:
- * Bats exhibit a wide range of immune strategies, influenced by ecological and evolutionary factors.
- * Current immunological studies are biased, with only a fraction of bat species investigated.
- * Hypotheses proposed to explain immunological diversity link it to pathogen exposure, biogeography, host energetics, and environmental stability.
Conclusions:
- * Bats are immunologically diverse, not homogenous.
- * Broad, integrated sampling and research are needed to address current biases and fully understand bat immunology.
- * Future research should combine methodological advancements, in vitro/in vivo studies, and phylogenetic comparative methods to test evolutionary hypotheses.
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