Eastern Michigan University
The external microbiome of bats: Effects of season, site, host species, and body region
Abstract
dc:description.abstract<p>White-nose syndrome is a cutaneous fungal disease that has been detrimental to North American bats for over 10 years, but few investigators have examined the natural microbiota living on these mammals. I explored the influence of season, geographic site, host species, and body region on the external microbiome of four cave-hibernating and two migratory species. Automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis was used to profile bacterial communities from three cutaneous regions of 222 bats across winter and summer sites in Michigan, Illinois, and Kentucky. Season, site, host species, and body region all influenced the composition of external bacterial communities, but geographic site explained more than twice the variability of the other factors overall. The extent that communities were affected by these factors varied with the body region sampled. This study should help guide future work with the external microbiome of bats and its relation to a host’s health or natural history.</p>
Degree
thesis:*- Name thesis:degree_name
- Master of Science (MS)
- Level thesis:degree_level
- Open Access Thesis
- Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
- Biology
- Year dc:date.available
- 2017
Author and committee
dc:creator, dc:contributor.*- Author dc:creator
-
- George, Kyle G.
- Contributors dc:contributor
-
- Allen Kurta, Ph.D.
- Margaret Hanes, Ph.D.
- Steven Francoeur, Ph.D.
Subjects
dc:subject × 9Identifiers
dc:identifier.*- Repository record dc:identifier
- https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1145
- OAI identifier oai:identifier
- oai:commons.emich.edu:theses-2500