Interruption to cutaneous gas exchange is not a likely mechanism of WNS-associated death in bats.
نویسندگان
چکیده
Pseudogymnoascus destructans is the causative fungal agent of white-nose syndrome (WNS), an emerging fungal-borne epizootic. WNS is responsible for a catastrophic decline of hibernating bats in North America, yet we have limited understanding of the physiological interactions between pathogen and host. Pseudogymnoascus destructans severely damages wings and tail membranes, by causing dryness that leads to whole sections crumbling off. Four possible mechanisms have been proposed by which infection could lead to dehydration; in this study, we tested one: P. destructans infection could cause disruption to passive gas-exchange pathways across the wing membranes, thereby causing a compensatory increase in water-intensive pulmonary respiration. We hypothesized that total evaporative water loss would be greater when passive gas exchange was inhibited. We found that bats did not lose more water when passive pathways were blocked. This study provides evidence against the proposed proximal mechanism that disruption to passive gas exchange causes dehydration and death to WNS-infected bats.
منابع مشابه
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White-nose syndrome (WNS) is an emerging disease of hibernating bats associated with cutaneous infection by the fungus Geomyces destructans (Gd), and responsible for devastating declines of bat populations in eastern North America. Affected bats appear emaciated and one hypothesis is that they spend too much time out of torpor during hibernation, depleting vital fat reserves required to survive...
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ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- The Journal of experimental biology
دوره 218 Pt 13 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2015