Expanded diversity of novel hemoplasmas in rare and undersampled Neotropical bats
Dmitriy V. Volokhov,
Lauren R. Lock,
Kristin E. Dyer,
Isabella K. DeAnglis,
Benjamin R. Andrews,
Molly C. Simonis,
Sebastian Stockmaier,
Gerald G. Carter,
Cynthia J. Downs,
M. Brock Fenton,
Nancy B. Simmons,
Daniel J. Becker
Affiliations
Dmitriy V. Volokhov
Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA
Lauren R. Lock
School of Biological Sciences, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
Kristin E. Dyer
School of Biological Sciences, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
Isabella K. DeAnglis
Department of Environmental Biology, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY, USA; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA
Benjamin R. Andrews
Department of Environmental Biology, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY, USA
Molly C. Simonis
School of Biological Sciences, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
Sebastian Stockmaier
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Panama
Gerald G. Carter
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Panama; Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
Cynthia J. Downs
Department of Environmental Biology, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY, USA
M. Brock Fenton
Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
Nancy B. Simmons
Department of Mammalogy, Division of Vertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA
Daniel J. Becker
School of Biological Sciences, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA; Corresponding author.
Hemotropic mycoplasmas are emerging as a model system for studying bacterial pathogens in bats, but taxonomic coverage of sampled host species remains biased. We leveraged a long-term field study in Belize to uncover novel hemoplasma diversity in bats by analyzing 80 samples from 19 species, most of which are infrequently encountered. PCR targeting the partial 16S rRNA gene found 41% of bats positive for hemoplasmas. Phylogenetic analyses found two novel host shifts of hemoplasmas, four entirely new hemoplasma genotypes, and the first hemoplasma detections in four bat species. One of these novel hemoplasmas (from Neoeptesicus furinalis) shared 97.6% identity in the partial 16S rRNA gene to a human hemoplasma (Candidatus Mycoplasma haemohominis). Additional analysis of the partial 23S rRNA gene allowed us to also designate two novel hemoplasma species, in Myotis elegans and Phyllostomus discolor, with the proposed names Candidatus Mycoplasma haematomyotis sp. nov. and Candidatus Mycoplasma haematophyllostomi sp. nov., respectively. Our analyses show that additional hemoplasma diversity in bats can be uncovered by targeting rare or undersampled host species.
