Special features of bats microbiota differs from terrestrial mammals

Bat (order Chiroptera) is one of the most diverse and widely distributed groups of mammals which have close relationship with humans. A number of studies have been performed on bat viruses -over the past few decades, in contrast, bacterial pathogens carried by bats were largely neglected. As more bacterial pathogens being identified from bats, the need to study their natural microbiota is becoming urgent. In current study, four bat species from different locations of China were analyzed using deep sequencing. Together with the result of others, we concluded bat microbiota is mostly dominated by Firmicutes and Proteobacteria; the strict anaerobic phylum Bacteroidetes which is dominant in other terrestrial mammals is relatively rare in bats. This phenomenon was interpreted as a result of highly specified gastrointestinal tract in adaptation to the flying lifestyle of bats. Further comparative study implied bats microbiota resemble those of the order Canivora. Using a database containing known bacterial pathogens, potential bacterial pathogens belonging to 12 genera were detected. Many of which have been previously reported in bats including Salmonella, Shigella, Yersinia and so on. Deep sequencing displayed unparalleled resolution and repeatability in detecting organisms of rare existence and the results can be used as guidance for future pathogen isolation.