About This Project

Australian bats are at risk from the deadly fungal disease White Nose Syndrome (WNS), which is expected to reach Australia by 2030 and has already killed millions of bats in North America.

European bats, however, employ immune strategies that allow them to coexist with the pathogen. This study will assess the gene expression of cell lines from Australian and German insect-eating bats in response to the WNS fungus.

European bats have what it takes to cope with WNS — do Australian bats?

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

Australian bats are currently at risk of White-nose Syndrome (WNS), a fungal disease originating in Europe that has killed millions of their North American relatives.

White-nose syndrome kills bats by disrupting hibernation; depleting their limited energy reserves needed to survive winter, leading to death. This process is likely linked to an overreaction of the bats' immune system as it attempts to fight the fungal infection.

However, not all bat species are affected equally. European bats (who have co-evolved with the fungus), and even some North American species show little immune reaction and do not succumb to the disease.

Although Australia is currently free of WNS, it is expected to reach the continent before 2030. With over 80 species of bats, Australia boasts an incredible diversity - however, our understanding of their life histories and immune systems remains limited.

What is the significance of this project?

Insect-eating bats are vital to healthy ecosystems, controlling pests and therefore benefiting agriculture and human health.

The spread of WNS in North America and associated bat mass-mortality events provide a real-life example of what happens when an essential insect predator is removed:
Recent work shows a 30 % increase in pesticide use in WNS-affected regions, followed by an 8% rise in human infant mortality.

Our research aims to prevent similar consequences in Australia by assessing the vulnerability of native bats to WNS. To do this, we have chosen the eastern bent-winged bat (Miniopterus orianae oceanensis) as our model species. The eastern bent-winged bat is one of several endangered species whose habitats overlap with the projected spread of the fungus causing WNS. The data from this project will improve disease risk models and inform effective conservation strategies to protect Australia’s bat populations.

What are the goals of the project?

Our goal is to assess the immune response of our model species to the fungus causing WNS.

Since the fungus cannot be imported to Australia, we derived cells from wing tissue of our model species, which were sent to collaborators at the Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Health in Berlin. Responses of Australian bat cells will be compared to cells derived from a German bat species not affected by WNS.
We will expose cells to three stimuli: the White-nose fungus, the fungal antigen Zymosan, and a control. Zymosan will be tested to see if it can mimic how bats react to the WNS, which would help future research.

We will measure how bat cells respond to stimuli at a molecular level.
We hypothesize that Australian bat cells will show stronger immune gene activation than German cell lines, which would suggest that Australian bats may be vulnerable to developing WNS.