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      Pan-European Distribution of White-Nose Syndrome Fungus ( Geomyces destructans) Not Associated with Mass Mortality

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          Abstract

          Background

          The dramatic mass mortalities amongst hibernating bats in Northeastern America caused by “white nose-syndrome” (WNS) continue to threaten populations of different bat species. The cold-loving fungus, Geomyces destructans, is the most likely causative agent leading to extensive destruction of the skin, particularly the wing membranes. Recent investigations in Europe confirmed the presence of the fungus G. destructans without associated mass mortality in hibernating bats in six countries but its distribution remains poorly known.

          Methodology/Principal Findings

          We collected data on the presence of bats with white fungal growth in 12 countries in Europe between 2003 and 2010 and conducted morphological and genetic analysis to confirm the identity of the fungus as Geomyces destructans. Our results demonstrate the presence of the fungus in eight countries spanning over 2000 km from West to East and provide compelling photographic evidence for its presence in another four countries including Romania, and Turkey. Furthermore, matching prevalence data of a hibernaculum monitored over two consecutive years with data from across Europe show that the temporal occurrence of the fungus, which first becomes visible around February, peaks in March but can still be seen in some torpid bats in May or June, is strikingly similar throughout Europe. Finally, we isolated and cultured G. destructans from a cave wall adjacent to a bat with fungal growth.

          Conclusions/Significance

          G. destructans is widely found over large areas of the European continent without associated mass mortalities in bats, suggesting that the fungus is native to Europe. The characterisation of the temporal variation in G. destructans growth on bats provides reference data for studying the spatio-temporal dynamic of the fungus. Finally, the presence of G. destructans spores on cave walls suggests that hibernacula could act as passive vectors and/or reservoirs for G. destructans and therefore, might play an important role in the transmission process.

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          Most cited references48

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          AMPLIFICATION AND DIRECT SEQUENCING OF FUNGAL RIBOSOMAL RNA GENES FOR PHYLOGENETICS

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            The hidden side of invasions: massive introgression by local genes.

            Despite hundreds of reports involving both plants and animals, the mechanisms underlying introgression remain obscure, even if some form of selection is frequently invoked. Introgression has repeatedly been reported in species that have recently colonized a new habitat, suggesting that demographic processes should be given more attention for understanding the mechanisms of introgression. Here we show by spatially explicit simulations that massive introgression of neutral genes takes place during the invasion of an occupied territory if interbreeding is not severely prevented between the invading and the local species. We also demonstrate that introgression occurs almost exclusively from the local to the invading species, especially for populations located far away from the source of the invasion, and this irrespective of the relative densities of the two species. This pattern is strongest at markers experiencing reduced gene flow, in keeping with the observation that organelle genes are often preferentially introgressed across species boundaries. A survey of the literature shows that a majority of published empirical studies of introgression during range expansions, in animals and in plants, follow the predictions of our model. Our results imply that speciation genes can be identified by comparing genomes of interfertile native and invading species pairs.
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              Wing pathology of white-nose syndrome in bats suggests life-threatening disruption of physiology

              White-nose syndrome (WNS) is causing unprecedented declines in several species of North American bats. The characteristic lesions of WNS are caused by the fungus Geomyces destructans, which erodes and replaces the living skin of bats while they hibernate. It is unknown how this infection kills the bats. We review here the unique physiological importance of wings to hibernating bats in relation to the damage caused by G. destructans and propose that mortality is caused by catastrophic disruption of wing-dependent physiological functions. Mechanisms of disease associated with G. destructans seem specific to hibernating bats and are most analogous to disease caused by chytrid fungus in amphibians.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Role: Editor
                Journal
                PLoS One
                plos
                plosone
                PLoS ONE
                Public Library of Science (San Francisco, USA )
                1932-6203
                2011
                27 April 2011
                : 6
                : 4
                : e19167
                Affiliations
                [1 ]School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
                [2 ]Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research, Dublin, Ireland
                [3 ]Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
                [4 ]Office for Faunistic and Landscape Ecology, Schöneberg, Germany
                [5 ]Plecotus Working Group, Association Natagora, Brussels, Belgium
                [6 ]Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany
                [7 ]Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warszawa, Poland
                [8 ]Commission de Protection des Eaux, du Patrimoine, de l'Environnement, du Sous-sol et des Chiroptères – Lorraine, Velaine-en-Haye, France
                [9 ]Dutch Bat Workers Group, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
                [10 ]Coordination Mammalogique du Nord de la France, Béthune, France
                [11 ]Podilski Tovtry National Nature Park, Kamenets-Podilsky, Ukraine
                [12 ]Nature Conservation Foundation of Tolna County, Szekszárd, Hungary
                [13 ]Centre for Ecosystem Studies, Alterra and Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
                [14 ]Biology Station Oberberg, Nümbrecht, Germany
                [15 ]Société d'Etude et de Protection de la Nature en Thiérache, Le Chaudron, Origny-en-Thiérache, France
                [16 ]Department of Biology, Center for Bat Conservation in Northern Bavaria, Erlangen University, Erlangen, Germany
                [17 ]Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union Rhineland-Palatine, Birkenfeld, Germany
                [18 ]Bretagne Vivante SEPNB, Roussimel, Glénac, France
                [19 ]Estonian Fund for Nature, Tartu, Estonia
                [20 ]Sicista Development Centre, Tartu, Estonia
                [21 ]Bat Working Group, Natuurpunt VZW, Belgium
                [22 ]Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union Southern Lower-Saxony, Nordstemmen, Germany
                [23 ]Biotope Mapping Cooperation, Herford, Germany
                [24 ]Institute of Natural Fibres and Medicinal Plants, Poznan, Poland
                [25 ]Saxonian State Office for Environment Agriculture and Geology, Dresden-Pillnitz, Germany
                University of Bern, Switzerland
                Author notes

                Conceived and designed the experiments: SJP GW VK ECT. Performed the experiments: SJP GW HF VK KM AK. Analyzed the data: SJP GW. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: SJP GW VK HF KM AK FF WB CB TB TC MD TG AJH FH GH MH CJ YLB LL MM BM KP MS AW UZ ECT. Wrote the paper: SJP GW.

                Article
                PONE-D-10-06373
                10.1371/journal.pone.0019167
                3083413
                21556356
                7a9ca642-dd4b-48db-8226-6069ede9485c
                Puechmaille et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
                History
                : 30 November 2010
                : 21 March 2011
                Page count
                Pages: 11
                Categories
                Research Article
                Biology
                Ecology
                Population Ecology
                Population Biology
                Population Ecology
                Veterinary Science
                Veterinary Diseases
                Veterinary Mycology

                Uncategorized
                Uncategorized

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