Bartonella DNA in heart tissues of bats in central and eastern Europe and a review of phylogenetic relations of bat-associated bartonellae

Alexandra Corduneanu,Attila D Sándor,Andrei Daniel Mihalca,Katharina Stefke,Natascha Leitner,Angela Monica Ionică,Sándor Hornok,Hans-Peter Fuehrer,Zoltán Bagó

doi:10.1186/s13071-018-3070-7

Abstract

BackgroundBats are among the most widely distributed mammals worldwide and can represent hosts or reservoirs for a number of different pathogens. Bartonella spp. are opportunistic bacterial pathogens, which are transmitted by a large variety of arthropods. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence and host-associations of these Gram-negative bacteria in heart tissues of bats collected in four different countries from eastern and central Europe and to analyze their phylogenetic relationship with other bat-associated bartonellae.ResultsThe results of this study show for the first time the presence of Bartonella spp. DNA in heart tissues of bats from central and eastern Europe. The overall prevalence of the infection was 1.38%. Phylogenetic analysis identified four new Bartonella spp. sequences, which were closely related with other Bartonella previously isolated from bats in Europe and North America.ConclusionsThe gltA sequences of Bartonella spp. showed considerable heterogeneity in the phylogenetic analysis resulting in six different clades. Our study demonstrated the presence of Bartonella spp. only in heart tissues of bats from Romania, with two new bat species recorded as hosts (Myotis cf. alcathoe and Pipistrellus pipistrellus).

Highlights

Bats are among the most widely distributed mammals worldwide and can represent hosts or reservoirs for a number of different pathogens
The positive samples belonged to three bat species: Myotis cf. alcathoe (3/12; 25%), Nyctalus noctula (2/228; 0.88%) and Pipistrellus pipistrellus (1/68; 1.47%)
This study investigated the presence, prevalence and genetic diversity of Bartonella spp. in insectivorous bats from three different countries from central and eastern Europe and is the first evidence of the presence of these bacteria in heart tissues of bats from eastern and central Europe

Summary

Introduction

Bats are among the most widely distributed mammals worldwide and can represent hosts or reservoirs for a number of different pathogens. Bats are among the most widespread mammalian species worldwide with high local diversity and abundance. They are divided in two suborders: Yinpterochiroptera with distribution especially in the tropical regions and Yangochiroptera more widely distributed and with higher species diversity [1]. They are unique among mammals, as they have the ability to fly, even for long distances during the migration periods [2, 3].

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