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Abstract:
Bat White-Nose Syndrome (WNS) is a highly infectious disease that has killed 99% of the affected little brown bat populations since its introduction to North America in 2006. WNS is caused by a strain of the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans that is native to continental Europe. Interestingly, WNS has a far lower fatality rate amongst infected European brown bats, even though studies have demonstrated that the bats’ immune responses are not responsible for their increased survival. We propose that commensal microorganisms could aid in defending little brown bats against WNS. This talk will describe our approach to screening bat commensals against P. destructans using pairwise assays, as well as our findings to date with regards to the natural products we have elucidated from anti-fungal strains.
