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Fungal communities in bat guano, speleothem surfaces, and cavern water in Madai cave, Northern Borneo (Malaysia).

ABSTRACT: The island of Borneo is a global biodiversity hotspot. However, its limestone caves are one of its least-studied ecosystems. We report for the first time the fungal species richness, diversity and abundance from Madai cave, situated in north-eastern Borneo. Environmental samples from inside the cave environment were collected (guano, speleothem, and cavern water) via opportunistic sampling. The dilution method was performed for isolation of fungi. Morphological characterisation and molecular analysis of the ITS region were utilised for the identification of isolates. Fifty-five pure cultures of fungi were attained, comprising 32 species from 15 genera, eight orders, and two divisions, Ascomycota and Basidiomycota. Ascomycetes dominated the fungal composition, accounting for 53 (96%) out of 55 total isolates. Penicillium spp. accounted for more than 47.1% of fungal abundance in all sample types. However, Aspergillus spp. had the highest occurrence rate, being isolated from all environmental samples except one. Purpureocillium lilacinum was isolated most frequently, appearing in five separate samples across all three substrates. Annulohypoxylon nitens, Ganoderma australe, Pyrrhoderma noxium, and Xylaria feejeensis were discovered and reported for the first time from the cave environment. This study provides additional data for further research on the mycoflora of Sabah's various ecosystems, especially limestone caves.

SUBMITTER: Wasti IG

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8451656 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Bats are hosts to a large variety of viruses, including many capable of cross-species transmissions to other mammals, including humans. We characterized the virome in guano from five common bat species in 9 Northern California roosts and from a pool of 5 individual bats. Genomes belonging to 14 viral families known to infect mammals and 17 viral families infecting insects or of unknown tropism were detected. Nearly complete or complete genomes of a novel parvovirus, astrovirus, nodavirus, circular Rep-encoding single-stranded DNA (CRESS-DNA) viruses, and densoviruses, and more partial genomes of a novel alphacoronavirus and a bunyavirus were characterized. Lower numbers of reads with >90% amino acid identity to previously described calicivirus, circovirus, adenoviruses, hepatovirus, bocaparvoviruses, and polyomavirus in other bat species were also found, likely reflecting their wide distribution among different bats. Unexpectedly, a few sequence reads of canine parvovirus 2 and the recently described mouse kidney parvovirus were also detected and their presence confirmed by PCR; these possibly originated from guano contamination by carnivores and rodents. The majority of eukaryotic viral reads were highly divergent, indicating that numerous viruses still remain to be characterized, even from such a heavily investigated order as Chiroptera.IMPORTANCE Characterizing the bat virome is important for understanding viral diversity and detecting viral spillover between animal species. Using an unbiased metagenomics method, we characterize the virome in guano collected from multiple roosts of common Northern California bat species. We describe several novel viral genomes and report the detection of viruses with close relatives reported in other bat species, likely reflecting cross-species transmissions. Viral sequences from well-known carnivore and rodent parvoviruses were also detected, whose presence are likely the result of contamination from defecation and urination atop guano and which reflect the close interaction of these mammals in the wild.

Dataset Information

Fungal communities in bat guano, speleothem surfaces, and cavern water in Madai cave, Northern Borneo (Malaysia).

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