Assessing the threat of bat-associated fungal pathogens
Samantha C. Karunarathna,
Danny Haelewaters,
Michail S. Lionakis,
Saowaluck Tibpromma,
Xu Jianchu,
Alice C. Hughes,
Peter E. Mortimer
Affiliations
Samantha C. Karunarathna
Center for Mountain Futures, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 65201, PR China
Danny Haelewaters
Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic; Research Group Mycology, Department of Biology, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; Corresponding authors.
Michail S. Lionakis
Fungal Pathogenesis Section, Laboratory of Clinical Immunology & Microbiology, National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, USA
Saowaluck Tibpromma
Center for Mountain Futures, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 65201, PR China
Xu Jianchu
Center for Mountain Futures, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 65201, PR China
Alice C. Hughes
School of Biological Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, PR China; Corresponding authors.
Peter E. Mortimer
Center for Mountain Futures, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 65201, PR China; Corresponding authors.
Fungal pathogens have become an increasingly important topic in recent decades. Yet whilst various cankers and blights have gained attention in temperate woodlands and crops, the scope for fungal pathogens of animals and their potential threat has received far less attention. With a shifting climate, the threat from fungal pathogens is predicted to increase in the future, thus understanding the spread of fungi over landscapes as well as taxa that may be at risk is of particular importance. Cave ecosystems provide potential refugia for various fungi, and roosts for bats. With their well vascularized wings and wide-ranging distributions, bats present potential fungal vectors. Furthermore, whilst bat immune systems are generally robust to bacterial and viral pathogens, they can be susceptible to fungal pathogens, particularly during periods of stress such as hibernation. Here we explore why bats are important and interesting vectors for fungi across landscapes and discuss knowledge gaps that require further research.
