Exploring the gut microbiota of gray bats in Kansas following culturable and metagenomic approaches
Category
Sciences and Technology
Department
Biology and Chemistry
Student Status
Undergraduate
Research Advisor
Dr. Anuradha Ghosh
Document Type
Event
Location
Kansas 2
Start Date
10-4-2025 11:40 AM
End Date
10-4-2025 12:00 PM
Description
Bats play essential roles in ecosystems, controlling insect populations but also acting as disease reservoirs, as highlighted by recent pandemics. This study examines bacterial diversity in the Gray Bat (Myotis grisescens) in Southeast Kansas. From guano samples, 32 bacterial isolates were obtained, majority was Gram-positive (65%). Sugar fermentation profiles showed 78% of isolates fermented all tested sugars, and a smaller proportion showed urea hydrolysis (21%) as well as indole production (3%). Sequencing with an Illumina miniSequencer yielded 2.9 million reads, with Serratia, Achromobacter, Lysinibacillus, and Bacillus as the most abundant genera. Ongoing research aims to characterize the gut microbiota of male and female bats. Beta diversity analysis showed 68% of variance, indicating greater intra-variability in females. Alpha diversity (Chao1 and Shannon indices) indicated comparable species richness, with slightly higher diversity in females. Identifying bacteria associated with bats supports disease prevention and bat conservation efforts.
Exploring the gut microbiota of gray bats in Kansas following culturable and metagenomic approaches
Kansas 2
Bats play essential roles in ecosystems, controlling insect populations but also acting as disease reservoirs, as highlighted by recent pandemics. This study examines bacterial diversity in the Gray Bat (Myotis grisescens) in Southeast Kansas. From guano samples, 32 bacterial isolates were obtained, majority was Gram-positive (65%). Sugar fermentation profiles showed 78% of isolates fermented all tested sugars, and a smaller proportion showed urea hydrolysis (21%) as well as indole production (3%). Sequencing with an Illumina miniSequencer yielded 2.9 million reads, with Serratia, Achromobacter, Lysinibacillus, and Bacillus as the most abundant genera. Ongoing research aims to characterize the gut microbiota of male and female bats. Beta diversity analysis showed 68% of variance, indicating greater intra-variability in females. Alpha diversity (Chao1 and Shannon indices) indicated comparable species richness, with slightly higher diversity in females. Identifying bacteria associated with bats supports disease prevention and bat conservation efforts.
