Geographically widespread and novel hemotropic mycoplasmas and bartonellae in Mexican free-tailed bats and sympatric North American bat species
Bats have been intensively sampled for viruses but remain mostly understudied for bacterial pathogens. However, bacterial pathogens can have significant impacts on both human health and bat morbidity and even mortality. Hemoplasmas and bartonellae are facultative intracellular bacteria of special interest in bats, given their high prevalence and substantial genetic diversity. Surveys have also supported plausible zoonotic transmission of these bacteria from bats to humans, including <i>Candidatus</i> Mycoplasma haematohominis and <i>Candidatus</i> Bartonella mayotimonensis. Greater characterization of these bacteria across global bat diversity (over 1,480 species) is therefore warranted to inform infection risks for both bats and humans, although little surveillance has thus far been conducted in North American bats. We here describe novel (and in some cases panmictic) hemoplasmas and bartonellae across three colonies of Mexican free-tailed bats and sympatric bat species. We find high genetic diversity and seasonality of these pathogens, including lineages closely related to human pathogens, such as <i>Bartonella rochalimae</i>.
Authors
- Daniel J. Becker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4315-8628)
- Lauren R. Lock (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-1731-1235)
- Juliana Maria Nunes Batista (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5860-0418)
- Winifred F. Frick (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9469-1839)
- Dmitriy V. Volokhov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3363-8361)
- Amanda M. Adams (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8365-6456)
- Nancy B. Simmons (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8807-7499)
- M. Teague O’Mara (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6951-1648)
- Shawn A. Pladas
- Bret Demory
- M. H. Pineda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-5960-7874)
- Kristin E. Dyer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-1291-7738)
- Beckett L. Olbrys (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-5045-2378)
- Anushka A. Sukhadia
Institutions
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (PA)
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (US)
- United States Food and Drug Administration (US)
- American Museum of Natural History (US)
- Universidade de São Paulo (BR)
- University of California, Santa Cruz (US)
- Southeastern Louisiana University (US)
- Bat Conservation International (US)
- Département Santé Animale (FR)
- Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (DE)
- University of Oklahoma (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- mSphere
- Published
- 2024-12-11
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1128/msphere.00116-24
- Citations
- 8
- Primary Topic
- Bartonella species infections research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 4.12
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- U.S. Department of Defense
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
- Research Corporation for Science Advancement
- University of Oklahoma
- Edward Mallinckrodt, Jr. Foundation
- Louisiana Biomedical Research Network
- Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation
- Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
- National Institutes of Health
- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
- Advanced Research Projects Agency
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences