White-Nose Syndrome (WNS), a devastating disease of cave- and mine-hibernating bats, is caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans (formerly: Geomyces destructans). The disease was discovered in 2006 in New York state, and has since been spreading to encompass many of the important bat hibernacula of the northeastern United States. The disease has continued to spread, with recently confirmed WNS sites in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri, and Arkansas.
Opportunities for studying North American fungal/microbial communities both on bats and in a variety of cave habitats prior to the arrival of White Nose Syndrome (WNS) are diminishing. In Illinois, we found ourselves just beyond the leading edge of where WNS had been suspected and confirmed, and were able to secure funding that capitalizes on our geographical position, allowing us to develop data on fungal and microbial communities before and (should WNS be confirmed in Illinois, as is anticipated) after invasion.
The University of Illinois WNS group is led by researchers at the Prairie Research Institute's Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) (Steve Taylor, Andy Miller, Ed Heske, Joe Merritt, Nohra Mateus-Pinilla) and the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences (NRES) (Anthony Yannarell). Other collaborators include the University of Illinois Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (Adam Stern), the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (Joe Kath, Endangered Species Manager), and the U.S. Forest Service, Shawnee National Forest (Rod McClanahan, Wildlife Biologist). Our group benefits from our varied specializations that include a cave biologist, two mammalogists, a mycologist, a veterinary epidemiologist, a microbial ecologist, an endangered species specialist, and a pathologist.
Our fieldwork includes basic monitoring for WNS at selected sites in Illinois over three winters (February 2012, January–February 2013, January–February 2014), and includes many of the state’s most important bat hibernacula.
But our study goes well beyond monitoring. We are examining fungal and microbial communities in detail through culturing fungi, DNA sequencing, and the application of DNA-based whole-community microbial fingerprinting.
During February 2012 and January–February 2013, we sampled at nine hibernacula/winter, taking samples for fungal and microbial analyses (culturing and whole-community microbial ecology) from live bats (sexed, weighed, examined for WNS signs, and released), dead bats, cave/mine ceilings or walls near and away from bats, cave/mine soils, other substrates, researcher’s boots, and soil just outside of the hibernacula.
Collecting a swab sample from the wall of a western Illinois bat hibernaculum. Photo by Joe Kath, Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
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In addition we collect soil samples for characterization of pH, nitrates, etc. Most samples also are associated with meter readings for soil and air temperature, relative humidity, and light.
Samples are transported on ice back to the laboratory for fungal culturing on petri dishes utilizing two different media and for whole-community microbial analyses. A few bats have been euthanized for histopathological examination at the University of Illinois Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. Laboratory analyses are still underway.
Our first winter of sampling was completed in February 2012, with no sites found to be positive for WNS. During February 2013, several Illinois sites were confirmed as positive for WNS. Our third winter (February 2014) sampling is still underway.
More than 1,500 field samples have been collected over the first two winters, and thousands of individual fungal isolates have been generated out of these field samples. It will take some time to fully analyze the data, and we will continue our work through more field sampling in January–February 2014 and by comparing our winter-collected hibernaculum data on fungal and microbial communities to similar data we collect during summer mist-netting of bats and to data collected from bats submitted to the Illinois Department of Public Health for rabies evaluation.