Bats Fertilize Roost Trees

Using nitrogen isotope ratio as proxy for nutrient transfer, we tracked nutrients from bat excreta to seed exocarp in Dipteryx panamensis that host bat roosts, suggesting that trees may benefit from nutrients of bat guano deposited into hollow tree trunks.     

西峡观蝙蝠

观蝙蝠与观鸟一样,也是自然爱好者乐此不疲的一项野外活动。     

Optimizing Viral Discovery in Bats

Viral discovery studies in bats have increased dramatically over the past decade, yet a rigorous synthesis of the published data is lacking. We extract and analyze data from 93 studies published between 2007–2013 to examine factors that increase success of viral discovery in bats, and specific trends and patterns of infection across host taxa and viral families. Over the study period, 248 novel viruses from 24 viral families have been described. Using generalized linear models, at a study level we show the number of host species and viral families tested best explained number of viruses detected. We demonstrate that prevalence varies significantly across viral family, specimen type, and host taxonomy, and calculate mean PCR prevalence by viral family and specimen type across all studies. Using a logistic model, we additionally identify factors most likely to increase viral detection at an individual level for the entire dataset and by viral families with sufficient sample sizes. Our analysis highlights major taxonomic gaps in recent bat viral discovery efforts and identifies ways to improve future viral pathogen detection through the design of more efficient and targeted sample collection and screening approaches.     

Henipavirus RNA in African Bats

Background

Henipaviruses (Hendra and Nipah virus) are highly pathogenic members of the family Paramyxoviridae. Fruit-eating bats of the Pteropus genus have been suggested as their natural reservoir. Human Henipavirus infections have been reported in a region extending from Australia via Malaysia into Bangladesh, compatible with the geographic range of Pteropus. These bats do not occur in continental Africa, but a whole range of other fruit bats is encountered. One of the most abundant is Eidolon helvum, the African Straw-coloured fruit bat.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Feces from E. helvum roosting in an urban setting in Kumasi/Ghana were tested for Henipavirus RNA. Sequences of three novel viruses in phylogenetic relationship to known Henipaviruses were detected. Virus RNA concentrations in feces were low.

Conclusions/Significance

The finding of novel putative Henipaviruses outside Australia and Asia contributes a significant extension of the region of potential endemicity of one of the most pathogenic virus genera known in humans.     

甲醛诱导的磷酸化减弱Tau蛋白与DNA相互作用

异常磷酸化Tau蛋白是神经纤维缠结的主要成分,也是老年痴呆的典型病理特征之一.本实验室前期报道了Tau蛋白具有保护DNA的作用,但磷酸化对Tau与DNA相互作用的影响需要进行探索,这对于揭示Tau蛋白异常磷酸化与神经细胞死亡之间的关系具有一定的参考价值.本文采用甲醛孵育N2a细胞,引起了细胞内Tau蛋白的过度磷酸化.实验结果进一步显示,甲醛孵育组的细胞核内磷酸化Tau蛋白与DNA非共定位存在,而对照组细胞核内Tau蛋白与DNA存在一定程度的共定位现象.电泳迁移率实验检测GSK-3β催化的磷酸化Tau蛋白与DNA的结合情况,可以观察到磷酸化减弱了Tau蛋白与DNA的相互结合.这些结果表明,异常磷酸化可以使Tau蛋白丧失对DNA的保护作用,这可能是Tau蛋白异常磷酸化引起DNA损伤甚至细胞死亡的原因之一.     

高致病性冠状病毒感染导致宿主免疫应答异常

近二十多年,全球范围内先后爆发了由严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒（severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus,SARS-CoV）、中东呼吸综合征冠状病毒（middle east respiratory syndrome coronavirus,MERS-CoV）和严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2,SARS-CoV-2）3种高致病性冠状病毒导致的疫情。这3种高致病性冠状病毒感染通常伴随着免疫系统功能失调,临床表现有淋巴细胞减少症、细胞因子风暴、急性呼吸系统窘迫综合征,甚至多器官衰竭而导致死亡。揭示高致病性冠状病毒在免疫应答中的作用机制,对于预防与控制冠状病毒感染具有重要意义。本文总结了SARS-CoV、MRES-CoV和SARS-CoV-2的进入机制和受体特征、固有免疫应答和适应性免疫应答失调方面的研究进展,强调了高致病性冠状病毒与宿主免疫应答之间的复杂相互作用,以期为防治冠状病毒感染提供参考。     

Personality Variation in Little Brown Bats

Animal personality or temperament refers to individual differences in behaviour that are repeatable over time and across contexts. Personality has been linked to life-history traits, energetic traits and fitness, with implications for the evolution of behaviour. Personality has been quantified for a range of taxa (e.g., fish, songbirds, small mammals) but, so far, there has been little work on personality in bats, despite their diversity and potential as a model taxon for comparative studies. We used a novel environment test to quantify personality in little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) and assess the short-term repeatability of a range of behaviours. We tested the hypothesis that development influences values of personality traits and predicted that trait values associated with activity would increase between newly volant, pre-weaning young-of-the-year (YOY) and more mature, self-sufficient YOY. We identified personality dimensions that were consistent with past studies of other taxa and found that these traits were repeatable over a 24-hour period. Consistent with our prediction, older YOY captured at a fall swarming site prior to hibernation had higher activity scores than younger YOY bats captured at a maternity colony, suggesting that personality traits vary as development progresses in YOY bats. Thus, we found evidence of short-term consistency of personality within individuals but with the potential for temporal flexibility of traits, depending on age.     

回声定位蝙蝠及其声通讯

综述了回声定位蝙蝠种类及其发声方式,回声定位信号的主要类型及回声定位信号声学特征,多普勒频移对长CF／FM蝙蝠的主要作用,简介了蝙蝠求偶和母婴识别等内声通讯行为,提出了一些尚待解决的重要问题。     

A Universal Model of Commuting Networks

We show that a recently proposed model generates accurate commuting networks on 80 case studies from different regions of the world (Europe and United-States) at different scales (e.g. municipalities, counties, regions). The model takes as input the number of commuters coming in and out of each geographic unit and generates the matrix of commuting flows between the units. The single parameter of the model follows a universal law that depends only on the scale of the geographic units. We show that our model significantly outperforms two other approaches proposing a universal commuting model [1], [2], particularly when the geographic units are small (e.g. municipalities).     

Dampened STING-Dependent Interferon Activation in Bats

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大围山里寻蝙蝠

壬午年末,北国正是银装素裹、呵气成霜的时节,我们为了进行蝙蝠系统发育研究,来到了素有“彩云之南”、“野生动植物王国“美称的云南省东南部,探访生活在祖国边陲的小鬼头。 云南省是我国蝙蝠最丰富的地区,位于屏边县的大围山是我们选择的重要目的地之一。早在上个世纪50年代,中国科学院动物所的老前辈们曾经来到这里采集了大量蝙蝠标本,正所谓“前人栽树,后人乘凉”,我们得益于这些丰富的历史资料所提供的重要信息,也使我们下定决心要来此看一看。 屏边县城是一个很小的地方,但却流露出与大城市不同的、几分难得的幽静和安逸。大围山自然保护区管理所副所长何永明先生及其同事热情欢迎我们这些慕名远道而来的探访者。     

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Disturbs Coronary Tone and Its Regulatory Mechanisms

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with myocardial injury, but changes in coronary regulatory mechanisms in PTSD have not been investigated. This study evaluated the effect of PTSD-inducing stress on coronary tone and its regulation by nitric oxide (NO) and voltage-gated K⁺ channels. PTSD was induced by exposing rats to predator stress, 15 min daily for 10 days, followed by 14 stress-free days. Presence of PTSD was confirmed by the elevated plus-maze test. Coronary tone was evaluated from changes in coronary perfusion pressure of Langendorff isolated hearts. Predator stress induced significant decreases in coronary tone of isolated hearts and in blood pressure of intact rats. L-NAME, a non-selective NO synthase (NOS) inhibitor, but not S-MT, a selective iNOS inhibitor, and increased coronary tone of control rats. In PTSD rats, both L-NAME and S-MT increased coronary tone. Therefore, the stress-induced coronary vasodilation resulted from NO overproduction by both iNOS and eNOS. NOS induction was apparently due to systemic inflammation as evidenced by increased serum interleukin-1β and C-reactive protein in PTSD rats. Decreased corticosterone in PTSD rats may have contributed to inflammation and its effect on coronary tone. PTSD was also associated with voltage-gated K⁺ channel dysfunction, which would have also reduced coronary tone.     

Puncture-Resistance of Gloves for Handling Bats

ABSTRACT We quantified protection given by a variety of gloves against bat bites by using steel indenters to simulate teeth and measuring forces needed to puncture the gloves. Level of protection given by gloves was compared to expected bite forces and tooth sharpness of bats. Cotton, plastic-coated synthetic fabric, and proprietary materials advertised as puncture- and cut-resistant were easy to penetrate compared to leather gloves. Split leather gives the highest level of protection, but with reduced dexterity. These are best for handling larger bats (>40 g) or if higher safety is preferred. Deerskin gives reasonable protection without much loss in dexterity for handling bats <40 g.