Genetic Identification of Species of Bats that Act as Reservoirs or Hosts for Viral Diseases
Pedro Carnieli Jr
Department of Virology, Instituto Pasteur, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Karin Corrêa Scheffer
Department of Virology, Instituto Pasteur, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Willian Oliveira Fahl
Department of Virology, Instituto Pasteur, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Jonas Yoshitaka de Oliveira Lima
Department of Virology, Instituto Pasteur, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Rafael de Novaes Oliveira
Department of Virology, Instituto Pasteur, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Juliana Galera Castilho
Department of Virology, Instituto Pasteur, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Keila Iamamoto
Department of Virology, Instituto Pasteur, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Carla Isabel Macedo
Department of Virology, Instituto Pasteur, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Paulo Eduardo Brandão
Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Helena Beatriz de Carvalho Ruthner Batista *
Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Introduction: Viruses have been identified as the main etiologic agents of both zoonoses and emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) and various species of wild fauna can be involved in the maintenance of these diseases. The very wide variety of bats, together with their ability to adapt to different environments and fly long distances, means that these animals are currently one of the main reservoirs for zoonoses and EIDs. For these reasons the correct identification of different bat species is essential.
Aims: This paper describes the genetic identification of 56 samples isolated from different bat species.
Methodology: Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b (mtDNA cyt-b) gene.
Results: Four families (Molossidae, Vespertilionidae, Noctilionidae and Phyllostomidae), twelve genera and nineteen different species of bats were identified, and the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) was used to confirm species identity. The phylogenetic tree constructed revealed two main clusters (1 and 2), both consist in two subclusters.
Conclusions: Our results were concordant with those obtained by morphometric identification and genetic identification carried out by other authors, showing that the method described here can be used as an effective alternative to, or in combination with, morphometric identification of bats.
Keywords: Bats, virus, wild reservoirs, cytochrome b.