Microbiomes in the insectivorous bat species Mops condylurus rapidly converge in captivity

PLoS One. 2020 Mar 20;15(3):e0223629. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0223629. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Bats are well known reservoir hosts for RNA and DNA viruses. The use of captive bats in research has intensified over the past decade as researchers aim to examine the virus-reservoir host interface. In this study, we investigated the effects of captivity on the fecal bacterial microbiome of an insectivorous microbat, Mops condylurus, a species that roosts in close proximity to humans and has likely transmitted viral infections to humans. Using amplicon 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we characterized changes in fecal bacterial community composition for individual bats directly at the time of capture and again after six weeks in captivity. We found that microbial community richness by measure of the number of observed operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in bat feces increases in captivity. Importantly, we found the similarity of microbial community structures of fecal microbiomes between different bats to converge during captivity. We propose a six week-acclimatization period prior to carrying out infection studies or other research influenced by the microbiome composition, which may be advantageous to reduce variation in microbiome composition and minimize biological variation inherent to in vivo experimental studies.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Chiroptera / microbiology*
  • DNA, Bacterial / genetics
  • Eulipotyphla / microbiology*
  • Feces / microbiology
  • Firmicutes / genetics
  • Gastrointestinal Microbiome / genetics*
  • Insecta / microbiology
  • Phylogeny
  • Proteobacteria / genetics
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / genetics
  • Sequence Analysis, RNA

Substances

  • DNA, Bacterial
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S

Grants and funding

This publication was financially supported by the RKI. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.