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1. Studying bats using a One Health lens: bridging the gap between bat virology and disease ecology

   https://doi.org/10.1128/jvi.01453-24  

   Gonzalez, Victoria; Hurtado-Monzón, Arianna M; O'Krafka, Sabrina; Mühlberger, Elke; Letko, Michael; Frank, Hannah K; Laing, Eric D; Phelps, Kendra L; Becker, Daniel J; Munster, Vincent J; et al (December 2024, Journal of Virology)

   Mukhopadhyay, Suchetana (Ed.)

   ABSTRACT Accumulating data suggest that some bat species host emerging viruses that are highly pathogenic in humans and agricultural animals. Laboratory-based studies have highlighted important adaptations in bat immune systems that allow them to better tolerate viral infections compared to humans. Simultaneously, ecological studies have discovered critical extrinsic factors, such as nutritional stress, that correlate with virus shedding in wild-caught bats. Despite some progress in independently understanding the role of bats as reservoirs of emerging viruses, there remains a significant gap in the molecular understanding of factors that drive virus spillover from bats. Driven by a collective goal of bridging the gap between the fields of bat virology, immunology, and disease ecology, we hosted a satellite symposium at the 2024 American Society for Virology meeting. Bringing together virologists, immunologists, and disease ecologists, we discussed the intrinsic and extrinsic factors such as virus receptor engagement, adaptive immunity, and virus ecology that influence spillover from bat hosts. This article summarizes the topics discussed during the symposium and emphasizes the need for interdisciplinary collaborations and resource sharing. 

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2. Fruit odorants mediate co-specialization in a multispecies plant–animal mutualism

   https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.0312  

   Santana, Sharlene E.; Kaliszewska, Zofia A.; Leiser-Miller, Leith B.; Lauterbur, M. Elise; Arbour, Jessica H.; Dávalos, Liliana M.; Riffell, Jeffrey A. (August 2021, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences)

   null (Ed.)

   Despite the widespread notion that animal-mediated seed dispersal led to the evolution of fruit traits that attract mutualistic frugivores, the dispersal syndrome hypothesis remains controversial, particularly for complex traits such as fruit scent. Here, we test this hypothesis in a community of mutualistic, ecologically important neotropical bats ( Carollia spp.) and plants ( Piper spp.) that communicate primarily via chemical signals. We found greater bat consumption is significantly associated with scent chemical diversity and presence of specific compounds, which fit multi-peak selective regime models in Piper . Through behavioural assays, we found Carollia prefer certain compounds, particularly 2-heptanol, which evolved as a unique feature of two Piper species highly consumed by these bats. Thus, we demonstrate that volatile compounds emitted by neotropical Piper fruits evolved in tandem with seed dispersal by scent-oriented Carollia bats. Specifically, fruit scent chemistry in some Piper species fits adaptive evolutionary scenarios consistent with a dispersal syndrome hypothesis. While other abiotic and biotic processes likely shaped the chemical composition of ripe fruit scent in Piper , our results provide some of the first evidence of the effect of bat frugivory on plant chemical diversity. 

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3. Hair, there and everywhere: A comparison of bat wing sensory hair distribution

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.25176  

   Rummel, Andrea_D; Sierra, Melissa_M; Quinn, Brooke_L; Swartz, Sharon_M (February 2023, The Anatomical Record)

   Abstract Bat wing membranes are composed of specialized skin that is covered with small sensory hairs which are likely mechanosensory and have been suggested to help bats sense airflow during flight. These sensory hairs have to date been studied in only a few of the more than 1,400 bat species around the world. Little is known about the diversity of the sensory hair network across the bat phylogeny. In this study, we use high‐resolution photomicrographs of preserved bat wings from 17 species in 12 families to characterize the distribution of sensory hairs along the wing and among species. We identify general patterns of sensory hair distribution across species, including the apparent relationships of sensory hairs to intramembranous wing muscles, the network of connective tissues in the wing membrane, and the bones of the forelimb. We also describe distinctive clustering of these sensory structures in some species. We also quantified sensory hair density in several regions of interest in the propatagium, plagiopatagium, and dactylopagatia, finding that sensory hair density was higher proximally than distally. This examination of the anatomical organization of the sensory hair network in a comparative context provides a framework for existing research on sensory hair function and highlights avenues for further research. 

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4. Geographically widespread and novel hemotropic mycoplasmas and bartonellae in Mexican free-tailed bats and sympatric North American bat species

   https://doi.org/10.1128/msphere.00116-24  

   Becker, Daniel J; Dyer, Kristin E; Lock, Lauren R; Olbrys, Beckett L; Pladas, Shawn A; Sukhadia, Anushka A; Demory, Bret; Nunes_Batista, Juliana Maria; Pineda, Micaela; Simmons, Nancy B; et al (December 2024, mSphere)

   Spiropoulou, Christina F (Ed.)

   ABSTRACT Bacterial pathogens remain poorly characterized in bats, especially in North America. We describe novel (and in some cases panmictic) hemoplasmas (10.1% positivity) and bartonellae (25.6% positivity) across three colonies of Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis), a partially migratory species that can seasonally travel hundreds of kilometers. Molecular analyses identified three novelCandidatushemoplasma species most similar to another novelCandidatusspecies in Neotropical molossid bats. We also detected novel hemoplasmas in sympatric cave myotis (Myotis velifer) and pallid bats (Antrozous pallidus), with sequences in the latter 96.5% related toCandidatusMycoplasma haematohominis. We identified nineBartonellagenogroups, including those in cave myotis with 96.1% similarity toCandidatusBartonella mayotimonensis. We also detectedBartonella rochalimaein migratory Mexican free-tailed bats, representing the first report of this human pathogen in the Chiroptera. Monthly sampling of migratory Mexican free-tailed bats during their North American occupancy period also revealed significant seasonality in infection for both bacterial pathogens, with prevalence increasing following spring migration, peaking in the maternity season, and declining into fall migration. The substantial diversity and seasonality of hemoplasmas and bartonellae observed here suggest that additional longitudinal, genomic, and immunological studies in bats are warranted to inform One Health approaches. IMPORTANCEBats 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, includingCandidatusMycoplasma haematohominis andCandidatusBartonella 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 asBartonella rochalimae. 

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5. Histone deacetylases regulate organ-specific growth in a horned beetle

   https://doi.org/10.1186/s13227-024-00223-5  

   Hu, Yonggang; Crabtree, Jordan R; Macagno, Anna_L M; Moczek, Armin P (December 2024, EvoDevo)

   Abstract BackgroundNutrient availability is among the most widespread means by which environmental variability affects developmental outcomes. Because almost all cells within an individual organism share the same genome, structure-specific growth responses must result from changes in gene regulation. Earlier work suggested thathistone deacetylases(HDACs) may serve as epigenetic regulators linking nutritional conditions to trait-specific development. Here we expand on this work by assessing the function of diverseHDACsin the structure-specific growth of both sex-shared and sex-specific traits including evolutionarily novel structures in the horned dung beetleOnthophagus taurus. ResultsWe identified fiveHDACmembers whose downregulation yielded highly variable mortality depending on whichHDACmember was targeted. We then show thatHDAC1,3, and4operate in both a gene- and trait-specific manner in the regulation of nutrition-responsiveness of appendage size and shape. Specifically,HDAC 1, 3,or4knockdown diminished wing size similarly while leg development was differentially affected by RNAi targetingHDAC3andHDAC4. In addition, depletion ofHDAC3transcript resulted in a more rounded shape of genitalia at the pupal stage and decreased the length of adult aedeagus across all body sizes. Most importantly, we find thatHDAC3andHDAC4pattern the morphology and regulate the scaling of evolutionarily novel head and thoracic horns as a function of nutritional variation. ConclusionCollectively, our results suggest that both functional overlap and division of labor amongHDACmembers contribute to morphological diversification of both conventional and recently evolved appendages. More generally, our work raises the possibility thatHDAC-mediated scaling relationships and their evolution may underpin morphological diversification within and across insect species broadly. 

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