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Living in the dark: Bat caves as hotspots of fungal diversity.

ABSTRACT: Bat caves are very special roosts that harbour thousands of bats of one or more species. Such sites may hold an incredible "dark fungal diversity" which is still underestimated. We explored the culturable fungal richness in the air, on bats, and in the guano in a bat cave in Brazil's Caatinga dry forest. Fungal abundance was 683 colony-forming units (CFU) in the guano, 673 CFU in the air, and 105 CFU on the bats. Based on morphological and phylogenetic analysis of ITS, LSU, and TUB2 sequences, fungal isolates of 59 taxa belonging to 37 genera in the phyla Ascomycota (28 genera, including Aspergillus, Penicillium, Cladosporium, and Talaromyces), Basidiomycota (eight genera, including Rhodotorula and Schizophyllum), and Mucoromycota (only Rhizopus) were identified. The fungal richness in the air was 23 taxa (especially Aspergillus taxa), mainly found at 15 m and 45 m from the cave entrance; on the bodies of bats it was 36 taxa (mainly Aspergillus taxa), especially on their wing membranes (21 taxa, nine of which were exclusively found in this microhabitat); and in guano 10 fungal taxa (especially Aspergillus and Penicillium) were found. The fungal richness associated with guano (fresh and non-fresh) was similar from bats with different eating habits (insectivorous, frugivorous, and haematophagous). Sampling effort was not sufficient to reveal the total fungal taxa richness estimated. Eight (21.6%) of the 37 genera and 17 (53.1%) of the 32 identified fungal species are reported for the first time in caves. Our results highlight bat caves in Brazil as hotspots of fungal diversity, emphasizing the need to protect such special roosts.

SUBMITTER: Cunha AOB

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7717564 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundModification and destruction of natural habitats are bringing previously unencountered animal populations into contact with humans, with bats considered important zoonotic transmission vectors. Caves and cave-dwelling bats are under-represented in conservation plans. In South Africa, at least two cavernicolous species are of interest as potential zoonotic hosts: the Natal long-fingered bat Miniopterus natalensis and the Egyptian fruit bat Rousettus aegyptiacus. Little information is available about the anthropogenic pressures these species face around important roost sites. Both bats are numerous and widespread throughout the country; land-use changes and urban expansions are a rising concern for both conservation and increased bat-human contact.ResultsOur study addressed this shortfall by determining the extent of land-cover change around 47 roosts between 2014 and 2018 using existing land cover datasets. We determined the land-cover composition around important roost sites (including maternity, hibernacula and co-roosts), distances to urban settlements and assessed the current protection levels of roost localities. We detected an overall 4% decrease in natural woody vegetation (trees) within 5 km buffer zones of all roost sites, with a 10% decrease detected at co-roost sites alone. Agricultural land cover increased the most near roost sites, followed by plantations and urban land-cover. Overall, roosts were located 4.15 ± 0.91 km from urban settlements in 2018, the distances decreasing as urban areas expand. According to the South African National Biodiversity Institute Ecosystem Threat Status assessment, 72% of roosts fall outside of well-protected ecosystems.ConclusionsThe current lack of regulatory protection of cavernicolous bats and their roosts, increasing anthropogenic expansions and proximity to human settlements raises concerns about increased human-bat contact. Furthermore, uncontrolled roost visitation and vandalism are increasing, contributing to bat health risks and population declines, though the extent of roosts affected is yet to be quantified. In an era where pandemics are predicted to become more frequent and severe due to land-use change, our research is an urgent call for the formal protection of bat-inhabited caves to safeguard both bats and humans.Supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40850-021-00095-5.

Project description:Volcanic caves are filled with colorful microbial mats on the walls and ceilings. These volcanic caves are found worldwide, and studies are finding vast bacteria diversity within these caves. One group of bacteria that can be abundant in volcanic caves, as well as other caves, is Actinobacteria. As Actinobacteria are valued for their ability to produce a variety of secondary metabolites, rare and novel Actinobacteria are being sought in underexplored environments. The abundance of novel Actinobacteria in volcanic caves makes this environment an excellent location to study these bacteria. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) from several volcanic caves worldwide revealed diversity in the morphologies present. Spores, coccoid, and filamentous cells, many with hair-like or knobby extensions, were some of the microbial structures observed within the microbial mat samples. In addition, the SEM study pointed out that these features figure prominently in both constructive and destructive mineral processes. To further investigate this diversity, we conducted both Sanger sequencing and 454 pyrosequencing of the Actinobacteria in volcanic caves from four locations, two islands in the Azores, Portugal, and Hawai'i and New Mexico, USA. This comparison represents one of the largest sequencing efforts of Actinobacteria in volcanic caves to date. The diversity was shown to be dominated by Actinomycetales, but also included several newly described orders, such as Euzebyales, and Gaiellales. Sixty-two percent of the clones from the four locations shared less than 97% similarity to known sequences, and nearly 71% of the clones were singletons, supporting the commonly held belief that volcanic caves are an untapped resource for novel and rare Actinobacteria. The amplicon libraries depicted a wider view of the microbial diversity in Azorean volcanic caves revealing three additional orders, Rubrobacterales, Solirubrobacterales, and Coriobacteriales. Studies of microbial ecology in volcanic caves are still very limited. To rectify this deficiency, the results from our study help fill in the gaps in our knowledge of actinobacterial diversity and their potential roles in the volcanic cave ecosystems.

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Living in the dark: Bat caves as hotspots of fungal diversity.

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