First Complete Cytochrome B Sequences and Molecular Taxonomy of Bat Species from Sri Lanka

Abstract

This is the first report on the molecular identification and phylogeny of the Rousettus leschenaultii Desmarest, 1810, Rhinolophus rouxii Temminck, 1835, Hipposideros speoris Schneider, 1800, Hipposideros lankadiva Kelaart, 1850, and Miniopterus fuliginosus Kuhl, 1817, bat species in Sri Lanka, inferred from analyses by mitochondrially encoded cytochrome b gene sequences. Recent research has indicated that bats show enormous cryptic genetic diversity. Moreover, even within the same species, the acoustic properties of echolocation calls and morphological features such as fur color could vary in different populations. Therefore, we have used molecular taxonomy for the accurate identification of five bat species recorded in one of the largest cave populations in Sri Lanka. The bats were caught using a hand net, and saliva samples were collected non-invasively from each bat by using a sterile oral swab. Nucleic acids were extracted from the oral swab samples, and mitochondrial DNA was amplified by using primers targeting the mitochondrially encoded cytochrome b gene. This study reports the first molecular evidence for the identification of five bat species in Sri Lanka. Our findings will contribute to future conservation and systematic studies of bats in Sri Lanka. This study will also provide the basis for a genetic database of Sri Lankan bats which will contribute significantly to the investigation of potentially zoonotic bat viruses.

Antimicrobial resistance including extended spectrum beta lactamases (ESBL) and carbapenemase in feacal <em>E. coli</em> isolates from bats

“…Bats are an important flying animal in the ecosystem of our region of South Asia including Sri Lanka, contribution to agriculture sector is considered highly significant (Durrance-Bagale et al, 2021;Perera et al, 2022). As described previously bats live long time than other creature of similar body size in the environment which is considered as unique feature of the group of mammals in the environment (Lagunas-Rangel, 2020).…”

“…Usually 30-100 bats could be found in a single tree in the botanical garden although such statistics were not found around Polgolla dam and Kandy lake (Krystufek, 2009). The high genetic diversity had been observed in different bat colonies in the country with special emphasis to the existing bat colonies at Royal Botanical Garden, Peradeniya (Karawita et al, 2017;Kikuchi et al, 2020;Muzeniek et al, 2022;Perera et al, 2022). Therefore, millions of micro florae are excreted to the outside environment through faeces.…”

One Health Approach for the sampling of different bat species living in a sympatric colony

“…It is a common technique to take wing punches of the sampled bats for species identification purposes [19]. However, it was discovered that oral swabs were also suitable for the analysis based on cytochrome b PCR and sequencing [20]. By this, it was possible to reduce invasive bat sampling to a minimum.…”

Comparative virome analysis of individual shedding routes of Miniopterus phillipsi bats inhabiting the Wavul Galge cave, Sri Lanka

“…In three individual field studies at different time points, we captured bats of all representative species and collected different sample material depending on availability 19 . Selected sample sets had been analyzed in previous investigations focusing on different research questions 17 , 18 , 20 , 21 . In this study, we focus on the virome analysis of urine swabs (US), oral swabs (OS) and feces (F) collected from M. phillipsi bats at one sampling point (July 2018).…”