Do European bats hold key to saving US cousins?

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Wildlife pathologists in Berlin are testing European bats for the presence of a fungus that has been linked with the deaths of over a million bats in the US. The research could help the US populations avoid extinction. Four winters ago, a caver saw bats acting strangely outside a cavern in upstate New York. Biologists arrived to find bats clustered near the entrance, trying to fly during the daytime. But seeing bats crashing into the snow was only the start of the horror.

Inside the cave, hundreds of bats were dead. On closer inspection, biologists found that many of the animals had a powdery white substance on their noses.

Since then, "white-nose syndrome" has killed an unprecedented number of cave- and mine-roosting bats in the United States. The disease has spread to nine other states, killed over one million bats, and in many colonies caused 80 to 100 percent mortality.

European connection

Bats with white fuzz on their muzzles have been seen in several European countries since the 1980s. Bat researchers had no cause for worry about these apparently healthy bats until white-nose syndrome arrived in the United States. In October 2008, David Blehert, a microbiologist from Wisconsin-based USGS National Wildlife Health Center, discovered that the substance on North American bats was a new strain of fungus in the Geomyces family. Since the fungus destroys healthy tissue, Blehert dubbed it Geomyces destructans.

When the reports of the epidemic surfaced in Europe, some bat conservationists here feared that they might see similar declines in European bats. Others argued that European bats soon groomed the fungus off, and appeared healthy. In trying to find answers to the puzzling phenomenon, researchers on both sides of the Atlantic have turned to bat disease specialist, Gudrun Wibbelt, at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) in Berlin.

Wibbelt is coordinating a study of samples sent to IZW by four European countries. "It has been a concerted effort," said Wibbelt. She and her team are checking to see whether the fungi found on any of the six European bat species is the North American Geomyces destructans.

Clues hidden in DNA

Under the microscope, Geomyces destructans has a unique curved shape, but the only way to be certain of the species is through genetic analysis. David Blehert sent Wibbelt his protocol for the genetic work. She and her colleagues then began sequencing the European bat samples. "The most important thing to remember is that there have been no mass mortalities in Europe," said Wibbelt. "So if it is the same fungus, it's actually exciting news."

European bats may hold the key to recovering US populations. "If the fungus is native to Europe, then how local bats survived may hold lessons for the survivability of bats in the US," said Paul Cryan, research biologist with the USGS Science Center in Colorado.

More: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5254384,00.html