BAT MICROBIOME RESISTANCE THROUGH FUNCTIONAL REDUNDANCY IN RESPONSE TO A FUNGAL PATHOGEN

Abstract

Planet Earth is currently experiencing a loss of biodiversity characterized by population declines that exceed the accepted background extinction rates. One of the drivers of this decline are emerging pathogens, with fungi representing a disproportionate percentage of pathogens causing decline. In 2006, Pseudogymnoascus destructans was introduced into the United States and has rapidly spread, threatening extinction of multiple bat species. The threat of emerging fungal pathogens has led to increased interest in understanding how the host associated cutaneous microbial assemblage interacts with fungal pathogens, particularly within the context of host health. In order to understand how the host associated microbial assemblage interacts with fungal pathogens, it is imperative to understand how assemblages are structured and maintained across the landscape. Metacommunity theory provides a way to understand local patterns within the context of interactions at the regional scale. The overall objective of my work is to understand how the bat cutaneous microbial assemblage interacts with P. destructans across the landscape. Previous work has suggested that there is a decoupling of taxonomy and function within microbial assemblages, therefore, I am interested in understanding how both taxonomic and functional assemblages respond to the presence of P. destructans. To address these objectives, I sampled bat cutaneous microbial assemblages across Tennessee and used high-throughput DNA sequencing techniques to characterize bat cutaneous microbial assemblages both taxonomically and functionally across the landscape in the presence/absence of P. destructans. Results indicate that the presence of P. destructans correlates with a shift in taxonomic microbial assemblage structure but not necessarily function. Additionally, at the landscape scale, results suggest that the environment is one of the main drivers of the bat cutaneous microbial assemblage structure, and that the presence of P. destructans influences this relationship. I also tested and found that microorganisms composing the bat skin microbiome have antifungal activity against P. destructans.