Genetic identification of bat species for pathogen surveillance across France

Abstract

With more than 1400 chiropteran species identified to date, bats comprise one-fifth of all mammalian species worldwide. Many studies have associated viral zoonoses with 45 different species of bats in the EU, which cluster within 5 families of bats. For example, the Serotine bats are infected by European Bat 1 Lyssavirus throughout Europe while Myotis bats are shown infected by coronavirus, herpesvirus and paramyxovirus. Correct host species identification is important to increase our knowledge of the ecology and evolutionary pattern of bat viruses in the EU. Bat species identification is commonly determined using morphological keys. Morphological determination of bat species from bat carcasses can be limited in some cases, due to the state of decomposition or nearly indistinguishable morphological features in juvenile bats and can lead to misidentifications. The overall objective of our study was to identify insectivorous bat species using molecular biology tools with the amplification of the partial cytochrome b gene of mitochondrial DNA. Two types of samples were tested in this study, bat wing punches and bat faeces. A total of 163 bat wing punches representing 22 species, and 31 faecal pellets representing 7 species were included in the study. From the 163 bat wing punches tested, a total of 159 were genetically identified from amplification of the partial cyt b gene. All 31 faecal pellets were genetically identified based on the cyt b gene. A comparison between morphological and genetic determination showed 21 misidentifications from the 163 wing punches, representing ~12.5% of misidentifications of morphological determination compared with the genetic method, across 11 species. In addition, genetic determination allowed the identification of 24 out of 25 morphologically non-determined bat samples. Our findings demonstrate the importance of a genetic approach as an efficient and reliable method to identify bat species precisely.

Diagnostic Investigations and Genetic Analysis of Coronavirus, Herpesvirus and Lyssavirus in Bats Located in Tuscany and Latium, Italy

“…Species identification is based on molecular methods, both because of the advanced state of decomposition in which some of the carcasses were found and because some species have similar morphological features that does not allow an accurate species identification [1]. This is essential to monitor especially in case of an upsurge in their death rate, considering that most of our activity is based on passive surveillance, as also the confirmation of the presence of bat species, that are more susceptible to viral infections, such as LYSVs, as in the case of Miniopterus schreibersii and Myotis daubentonii, that are reported in our study, and other bat species as Eptesicus serotinus, Myotis brandtii, Myotis dasycneme and Myotis nattereri that were not detected [38].…”

“…Chiroptera include to date, more than 1,400 species, representing one-fifth of all mammalian species worldwide [1]. In Italy, at least thirty-five species [2] divided into eleven different genera and four families are documented [3].…”

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

“…The prevalence of medically important pathogens in bats may be linked with the bat species, their geographical location, roosting nature, and other behavioral aspects [26][27][28]. Therefore, accurate species identification using molecular techniques will help predict the pathogen-host shifts and interspecies pathogen transmission in bats in the Wavulgalge cave in Sri Lanka in future studies [29,30].…”

Phylogeographic Aspects of Bat Lyssaviruses in Europe: A Review

“…Generally, morphological keys such as Dietz et al [ 95 ] are widely used for bat identification. On the other hand, morphological identification from carcasses can be limited due to the state of decomposition or nearly indistinguishable morphological features in juvenile bats and can lead to misidentifications [ 96 ]. Therefore, genetic markers are highly required due to their role for precise bat taxonomic clarification especially in cryptic species complexes, e.g., Çoraman et al [ 97 ] and De Benedictis et al [ 98 ].…”