White-nose syndrome restructures bat skin microbiomes

摘要: Abstract The skin microbiome is an essential line of host defense against pathogens, yet our understanding microbial communities and how they change when hosts become infected limited. We investigated composition in three North American bat species (Myotis lucifugus, Eptesicus fuscus, Perimyotis subflavus) that have been impacted by the infectious disease, white-nose syndrome, caused invasive fungal pathogen, Pseudogymnoascus destructans. compared bacterial from 154 swab samples 70 environmental using a targeted 16S rRNA ITS amplicon approach. found for M. experiences high mortality diversity was dramatically lower P. destructans present. Key families—including those potentially involved pathogen defense—significantly differed abundance bats with to uninfected bats. However, not E. fuscus or subflavus present, despite populations latter declining sharply syndrome. present on substantially overlapped taxa environment at site where sampled, but community unaffected presence any species. This species-specific alteration microbiomes after invasion may suggest mechanism severity WNS other