| Since 2006 Geomyces destructans, the causative agent of White Nose Syndrome (WNS), has killed over 5.7 million bats in North America, spreading from Albany to 24 states and five Canadian provinces. A current hypothesis suggests that this novel fungus was introduced from Europe. However, it is difficult to assess this hypothesis because there is a dearth of information on the diversity and distribution of similar fungi (genus Geomyces) on bats in the USA. I documented the psychrophilic fungal flora of hibernating bats prior to the arrival of WNS using fungal tape-lift methods and in situ culture-based techniques from bat swabs. A total of 142 cultures, were obtained from four bat hibernacula (N = 25 wing swab bats) and were sequenced for the entire Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) nrDNA region. Approximately 53 Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) at 97% similarity were recovered from bat wings with the community dominated by fungi within the genera Cladosporium, Fusarium, Geomyces, Mortierella, Penicillium, and Trichosporon. Eleven Geomyces isolates were obtained from all bat species and phylogenetic analyses placed these in at least seven distinct Geomyces clades. Temperature experiments revealed that all Geomyces spp. found are psychrotolerant, unlike G. destructans, which is a true psychrophile. Our results confirm the widespread distribution of several Geomyces spp. on bats prior to the arrival of WNS within Illinois. These Geomyces spp. could potentially cause false positives or serve as models for explaining the pathogenicity of WNS. |
