Remarkable fungal biodiversity on northern Belgium bats and hibernacula

Bats can be affected by fungal pathogens such as Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the causative agent
of the white-nose syndrome. Their body surface can also be colonized by fungal commensals or carry
transient fungal species and participate in their dispersal. In this study, 114 bat specimens belonging
to seven species were sampled from various locations in northern Belgium. Culture-based methods
revealed an important mycological diversity, with a total of 209 different taxa out of the 418 isolates.
Overall, a mean of 3.7 taxa per bat was recorded, but significant differences were observed between
sampling sites and seasons. The mycobiomes were dominated by cosmopolitan and plant-associated
species, in particular from the genera Cladosporium, Penicillium, and Aspergillus. Other species known
to be related to bats or their environment, such as Apiotrichum otae, were also retrieved. Sampling of
hibernacula indicated that diverse fungal species can inhabit these sites, including a yet undescribed
Pseudogymnoascus species, distinct from Ps. destructans, namely, Ps. cavicola.