scholarly journals Gene losses in the common vampire bat illuminate molecular adaptations to blood feeding

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moritz Blumer ◽  
Tom Brown ◽  
Mariella Bontempo Freitas ◽  
Ana Luiza Destro ◽  
Juraci A. Oliveira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Blood Feeding ◽  
Dietary Specialization ◽  
Genomic Changes ◽  
Gastric Physiology ◽  
Vampire Bats ◽  
Reference Quality ◽  
The Common ◽  
Metabolizing Enzyme ◽  
Vampire Bat

Feeding exclusively on blood, vampire bats represent the only obligate sanguivorous lineage among mammals. To uncover genomic changes associated with adaptations to this unique dietary specialization, we generated a new haplotype-resolved reference-quality genome of the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) and screened 26 bat species for genes that were specifically lost in the vampire bat lineage. We discovered previously-unknown gene losses that relate to metabolic and physiological changes, such as reduced insulin secretion (FFAR1, SLC30A8), limited glycogen stores (PPP1R3E), and a distinct gastric physiology (CTSE). Other gene losses likely reflect the biased nutrient composition (ERN2, CTRL) and distinct pathogen diversity of blood (RNASE7). Interestingly, the loss of REP15 likely helped vampire bats to adapt to high dietary iron levels by enhancing iron excretion and the loss of the 24S-hydroxycholesterol metabolizing enzyme CYP39A1 could contribute to their exceptional cognitive abilities. Finally, losses of key cone phototransduction genes (PDE6H, PDE6C) suggest that these strictly-nocturnal bats completely lack cone-based vision. These findings enhance our understanding of vampire bat biology and the genomic underpinnings of adaptations to sanguivory.

scholarly journals Non-kin adoption in the common vampire bat

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Imran Razik ◽  
Bridget K. G. Brown ◽  
Rachel A. Page ◽  
Gerald G. Carter
Keyword(s):  
Alloparental Care ◽  
Adaptive Traits ◽  
Cooperative Interactions ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Vampire Bats ◽  
In Captivity ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Common ◽  
Group Member ◽  
Vampire Bat

Individual animals across many different species occasionally ‘adopt’ unrelated, orphaned offspring. Although adoption may be best explained as a by-product of adaptive traits that enhance parental care or promote the development of parental skills, one factor that is possibly important for the likelihood of adoption is the history of cooperative interactions between the mother, adopted offspring and adopter. Using 652 h of behavioural samples collected over four months, we describe patterns of allogrooming and food sharing before and after an instance of non-kin adoption between two adult female common vampire bats ( Desmodus rotundus ) that were captured from distant sites (340 km apart) and introduced to one another in captivity. The first female died from an illness 19 days after giving birth. The second female groomed and regurgitated food to the mother more often than any other group member, then groomed, nursed and regurgitated food to the orphaned, female pup. The substantial increase in alloparental care by this female after the mother's death was not observed among the 20 other adult females that were present in the colony. Our findings corroborate previous reports of non-kin adoption in common vampire bats and are consistent with the hypothesis that non-kin adoption can be motivated, in part, by a history of cooperative interactions.

scholarly journals Prey choice of the common vampire bat on introduced species in an Atlantic forest land-bridge island

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Gonçalves ◽  
Marcelo Magioli ◽  
Ricardo S. Bovendorp ◽  
Katia Maria Paschoaletto Micchi de Barros Ferraz ◽  
Letícia Bulascoschi Cagnoni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Animals ◽  
Mean Value ◽  
Prey Choice ◽  
Potential Prey ◽  
Land Bridge ◽  
Predator Species ◽  
Vampire Bats ◽  
The Common ◽  
Bat Rabies ◽  
Vampire Bat

AbstractThe proliferation of native, alien, invasive and domestic species provide novel and abundant food resources for the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) that could alter its prey preference. Based on the analysis of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes, we report the prey choice of D. rotundus on introduced mammals in an tropical land-bridge island where the domestic animals were removed and 100 individuals of 15 mammal species were intentionally introduced. Our analysis shows that, D. rotundus on Anchieta Island were more likely to prey upon species from open habitats (mean value of −14.8‰), i.e., animals with high δ13C values characterized by the consumption of C4 resources. As expected for a top predator species, δ15N values for D. rotundus were higher (mean value of 8.2‰) and overlapped the niche of the capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) from the Anchieta Island, while it was distant from coatis, and also from those potential prey from the preserved area in the mainland, including the capybaras, indicating that among all potential mammalian prey species, they fed exclusively on capybaras, the highest mammalian biomass on island. Based on previous information on human occupation, the domestic animals present on Anchieta island might be the main prey of D. rotundus and responsible for maintaining a viable population. As the capybaras were introduced only 36 years ago, this suggests a rapid prey shift due to anthropogenic disturbances, which has allowed common vampire bats to successfully exploit them. Literature records also show that common vampire bats were not captured in preserved areas of the mainland which are near Anchieta Island indicating that the percentage of capture of D. rotundus is usually low in natural forested habitats where potential prey are scattered. As three individuals of introduced capybaras were confirmed died from bat rabies viruses (RABV) in 2020, we suggest periodic monitoring of bat rabies viruses in common vampire bat populations on Anchieta Island and areas nearby, in order to quantify the magnitude of the outbreak area and develop strategies for controlling, especially considering that the island and areas nearby is frequently visited by tourists. We highlighted that this prey choice is context-dependent, and possibly influenced by the removal of domestic animals, the explosive population growth of introduced capybaras combined with their predictable foraging behavior.

Abundance of the common vampire bat and feeding prevalence on cattle along a gradient of landscape disturbance in southeastern Mexico

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Víctor Hugo Mendoza-Sáenz ◽  
Darío Alejandro Navarrete-Gutiérrez ◽  
Guillermo Jiménez-Ferrer ◽  
Cristian Kraker-Castañeda ◽  
Romeo A. Saldaña-Vázquez
Keyword(s):  
Landscape Disturbance ◽  
The Common ◽  
Vampire Bat

scholarly journals Vampire bats exhibit evolutionary reduction of bitter taste receptor genes common to other bats

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1788) ◽  
pp. 20141079 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Hong ◽  
Huabin Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Bitter Taste ◽  
Food Selection ◽  
Taste Receptor ◽  
Selective Constraint ◽  
Behavioural Response ◽  
Bitter Taste Receptor ◽  
Pathway Gene ◽  
Vampire Bats ◽  
Vampire Bat ◽  
Strong Functional Constraint

The bitter taste serves as an important natural defence against the ingestion of poisonous foods and is thus believed to be indispensable in animals. However, vampire bats are obligate blood feeders that show a reduced behavioural response towards bitter-tasting compounds. To test whether bitter taste receptor genes ( T2R s) have been relaxed from selective constraint in vampire bats, we sampled all three vampire bat species and 11 non-vampire bats, and sequenced nine one-to-one orthologous T2R s that are assumed to be functionally conserved in all bats. We generated 85 T2R sequences and found that vampire bats have a significantly greater percentage of pseudogenes than other bats. These results strongly suggest a relaxation of selective constraint and a reduction of bitter taste function in vampire bats. We also found that vampire bats retain many intact T2R s, and that the taste signalling pathway gene Calhm1 remains complete and intact with strong functional constraint. These results suggest the presence of some bitter taste function in vampire bats, although it is not likely to play a major role in food selection. Together, our study suggests that the evolutionary reduction of bitter taste function in animals is more pervasive than previously believed, and highlights the importance of extra-oral functions of taste receptor genes.

scholarly journals Bed bugs: The move to humans as hosts

FACETS ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benoit Talbot ◽  
Nusha Keyghobadi ◽  
Brock Fenton
Keyword(s):  
Rapid Growth ◽  
Host Species ◽  
Blood Feeding ◽  
Living Conditions ◽  
Pest Species ◽  
Insectivorous Birds ◽  
Bed Bugs ◽  
Bed Bug ◽  
Ecological Success ◽  
The Common

Cimicid insects, bed bugs and their allies, include about 100 species of blood-feeding ectoparasites. Among them, a few have become widespread and abundant pests of humans. Cimicids vary in their degree of specialization to hosts. Whereas most species specialize on insectivorous birds or bats, the common bed bug can feed on a range of distantly related host species, such as bats, humans, and chickens. We suggest that association with humans and generalism in bed bugs led to fundamentally different living conditions that fostered rapid growth and expansion of their populations. We propose that the evolutionary and ecological success of common bed bugs reflected exploitation of large homeothermic hosts (humans) that sheltered in buildings. This was a departure from congeners whose hosts are much smaller and often heterothermic. We argue that interesting insights into the biology of pest species may be obtained using an integrated view of their ecology and evolution.

scholarly journals Epidemiology and biology of a herpesvirus in rabies endemic vampire bat populations

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan E. Griffiths ◽  
Laura M. Bergner ◽  
Alice Broos ◽  
Diana K. Meza ◽  
Ana da Silva Filipe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Viral Vectors ◽  
Vaccine Coverage ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Reservoir Host ◽  
Wild Type Virus ◽  
Molecular Evidence ◽  
Promising Candidate ◽  
Vampire Bats ◽  
Neotropical Bats ◽  
Vampire Bat

AbstractRabies is a viral zoonosis transmitted by vampire bats across Latin America. Substantial public health and agricultural burdens remain, despite decades of bats culls and livestock vaccinations. Virally vectored vaccines that spread autonomously through bat populations are a theoretically appealing solution to managing rabies in its reservoir host. We investigate the biological and epidemiological suitability of a vampire bat betaherpesvirus (DrBHV) to act as a vaccine vector. In 25 sites across Peru with serological and/or molecular evidence of rabies circulation, DrBHV infects 80–100% of bats, suggesting potential for high population-level vaccine coverage. Phylogenetic analysis reveals host specificity within neotropical bats, limiting risks to non-target species. Finally, deep sequencing illustrates DrBHV super-infections in individual bats, implying that DrBHV-vectored vaccines might invade despite the highly prevalent wild-type virus. These results indicate DrBHV as a promising candidate vector for a transmissible rabies vaccine, and provide a framework to discover and evaluate candidate viral vectors for vaccines against bat-borne zoonoses.

scholarly journals How Social Structure Drives the Population Dynamics of the Common Vampire Bat (Desmodus rotundus, Phyllostomidae)

2017 ◽  
Vol 109 (4) ◽  
pp. 393-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maïlis Huguin ◽  
Nidia Arechiga-Ceballos ◽  
Marguerite Delaval ◽  
Amandine Guidez ◽  
Isaï Jorge de Castro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Desmodus Rotundus ◽  
The Common ◽  
Vampire Bat
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