title: White-nose syndrome fungus: a generalist pathogen of hibernating bats.
abstract: Host traits and phylogeny can determine infection risk by driving pathogen transmission and its ability to infect new hosts. Predicting such risks is critical when designing disease mitigation strategies, and especially as regards wildlife, where intensive management is often advocated or prevented by economic and/or practical reasons. We investigated Pseudogymnoascus [Geomyces] destructans infection, the cause of white-nose syndrome (WNS), in relation to chiropteran ecology, behaviour and phylogenetics. While this fungus has caused devastating declines in North American bat populations, there have been no apparent population changes attributable to the disease in Europe. We screened 276 bats of 15 species from hibernacula in the Czech Republic over 2012 and 2013, and provided histopathological evidence for 11 European species positive for WNS. With the exception of Myotis myotis, the other ten species are all new reports for WNS in Europe. Of these, M. emarginatus, Eptesicus nilssonii, Rhinolophus hipposideros, Barbastella barbastellus and Plecotus auritus are new to the list of P. destructans-infected bat species. While the infected species are all statistically phylogenetically related, WNS affects bats from two suborders. These are ecologically diverse and adopt a wide range of hibernating strategies. Occurrence of WNS in distantly related bat species with diverse ecology suggests that the pathogen may be a generalist and that all bats hibernating within the distribution range of P. destructans may be at risk of infection.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Brno, Czech Republic; Department of Botany and Zoology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zukal
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Diseases of Game, Fish and Bees, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Hana
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bandouchova
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany and Zoology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Tomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bartonicka
authors.affiliation: Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Hana
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Berkova
authors.affiliation: Environmental Solutions & Innovations Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, United States of America.
authors.forename: Virgil
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Brack
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Diseases of Game, Fish and Bees, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Jiri
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brichta
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany and Zoology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Matej
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dolinay
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biostatistics and Analysis, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Kamil S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Jaron
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Diseases of Game, Fish and Bees, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Veronika
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kovacova
authors.affiliation: Administration of the Moravian Karst Protected Landscape Area, Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic, Blansko, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Miroslav
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kovarik
authors.affiliation: Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Brno, Czech Republic; Institute of Biostatistics and Analysis, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Natália
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Martínková
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Diseases of Game, Fish and Bees, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Karel
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ondracek
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany and Zoology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Zdenek
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Rehak
authors.affiliation: Pennsylvania Game Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
authors.forename: Gregory G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Diseases of Game, Fish and Bees, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Jiri
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pikula
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001203:Ascomycota / Q000502:physiology*; D044822:Biodiversity; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000145:classification / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology; D006605:Hibernation; D010802:Phylogeny; D012306:Risk