Discovery of novel fungal species and pathogens on bat carcasses in a cave in Yunnan Province, China

ABSTRACT

Virulent infectious fungal diseases, in natural and managed landscapes, are increasing. Fungal diseases in humans, animals and plants have caused die-off and extinction events and have become a threat to food security. A caving expedition in Yunnan Province, China, revealed two bat carcasses covered in fungal mycelia. Eleven fungal isolates were obtained from these bat carcasses, and morphological observations and multigene phylogenetic analyses revealed they were Fusarium incarnatum, Mucor hiemalis and Trichoderma harzianum and four new species, Mortierella rhinolophicola, M. multispora, M. yunnanensis and Neocosmospora pallidimors. One of the more alarming findings is that a number of infections related to Neocosmospora, previously associated with human and animal mycotoxicoses, are reported to be increasing, and here we present a new species from this genus, isolated from dead bats. Due to the ecosystem services provided by bats, and the close relationship between bats and humans, future research should focus on the impacts and significance of N. pallidimors to human and animal health, examining its pathogenicity and secondary metabolites. Taxonomic descriptions, color images of the habitat, in situ samples, microstructures and cultures are presented. SEM photographs of microstructures and phylogenetic trees showing the placement of new and known species are also provided.

KEYWORDS:

• 4 new taxa
• Fusarium incarnatum
• Mucor hiemalis
• Mortierella rhinolophicola
• Mortierella yunnanensis
• Mortierella multispora
• Neocosmospora pallidimors
• Trichoderma harzianum

Acknowledgements

Peter E. Mortimer thanks the National Science Foundation of China for financial support under the following grants: 41761144055 and 41771063. Samantha C. Kaunarathna thanks CAS President’s International Fellowship Initiative (PIFI) for funding his postdoctoral research (No. 2018PC0006) and the National Science Foundation of China (NSFC) for funding this work under the project code 31851110759. Saowaluck Tibpromma would like to thank the International Postdoctoral Exchange Fellowship Program (Talent-Introduction Program) (number Y9180822S1), CAS President’s International Fellowship Initiative (PIFI) (number 2020PC0009), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation and the Yunnan Department of Human Resources and Social Security for funding her postdoctoral research. Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Science (KIB) is thanked for providing laboratory facilities for morphology and phylogeny work, and Mr Gu Zhi-Jia in KIB is thanked for the assistance in taking the scanning electron microscopy photographs. Stephen Axford and Catherine Marciniak are thanked for their help on field visits, Deping Wei is thanked for her help in depositing fungal cultures and the curator at the Yunnan University fungal herbarium is also thanked. The authors would like to thank Alice C. Hughes for assistance in identifying the bat species. Dr Shaun Pennycook is thanked for help in naming the new fungal species. Austin Smith at World Agroforestry (ICRAF), Kunming Institute of Botany, China, is thanked for English editing.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was partly supported by the Yunnan Provincial Key Programs of Yunnan Eco-Friendly Food International Cooperation Research Center project under the grant code [2019ZG00908] and Chiang Mai University.

Peter E. Mortimer thanks the National Science Foundation of China for financial support under the following grants: [41761144055 and 41771063]. Samantha C. Kaunarathna thanks CAS President’s International Fellowship Initiative (PIFI) for funding his postdoctoral research [No. 2018PC0006] and the National Science Foundation of China (NSFC) for funding this work under the project code [31851110759]. Saowaluck Tibpromma would like to thank the International Postdoctoral Exchange Fellowship Program [number Y9180822S1], CAS President’s International Fellowship Initiative (PIFI) [number 2020PC0009], China Postdoctoral Science Foundation and the Yunnan Human Resources, and Social Security Department Foundation for funding her postdoctoral research.