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White-Nose Syndrome & Mycology - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Fungi are the primary decomposers of organic material in many ecosystems and so play a crucial part in recycling nutrients and the global carbon cycle. They break down pollutants and the most durable organic materials and have a range of uses such as in medicine and food production.
    - - Is there a cure for White-Nose Syndrome?
        
        Unfortunately, No. Why? Because the fungus that cause the white-nose syndrome is now established in North America, it is unlikely that it will go away. The focus is not on a single cure, but on several tools such as treating bats or changing environments that will help bats survive.
      - As one of the main predators of night-flying insects, bats help keep the forest ecosystems healthy and balanced. WNS has spread among seven species of bat in North America and Plant Pathologists and Mycologists at FPL have been working to stop it.
      - With the support of Mycology / Mycologists, what is the impact towards WNS?
        
        Scientists or Mycologists are able to identify the fungus it self, the characteristics, what treatment is best to avoid the bats from getting WNS, what can people do to help, and many more. There may be no cure for this certain disease but Mycologists help prevent and alert other people with certain informations of what to do, to keep the bats from getting WNS.
        
        According to FPL, with the help from the scientists at Georgia State University and other Forest Service Stations, researchers at the Lab's Center of Forest Mycology Research formed the first team of experts to conduct treatment trials on WNS - infected bats. The bats were treated with volatile organic compound produced by a common soil bacteria, but scientists continue to monitor the effects.
      - While WNS has largely remained contained in states east of the Great Plains, researchers across the entire country continue to take preventative measures, such as a restricting access to caves, to help prevent and decrease further spread of the disease.
        
        Other WNS research areas include habitat management and identification of resistant populations.
      - People across North America can get involved to help bats survive white-nose syndrome (WNS). Whether at home or near a cave, everyone can take steps to conserve and protect bats.
      - Things You Can Do To Help!
        
        Avoid Possible Spread of WNS by humans, by cleaning shoes and gear before and after entering caves.
        
        From one caves to the other, usually humans transfer the diseases unintentionally, so make sure you clean your shoes, gears, etc.
        
        Leave the bats alone. Don't disturb them!
        
        Obey Sings: Don't enter closed or gated caves!
        
        Remember: Like all wildlife, bats can also carry diseases. Please respect the bats, don't handle them. If you touch or come into contact with a bat, call your local healthcare provider.
      - According to BMC Physiology, "We used the Doubly Labeled Water (DLW) method and clinical chemistry to evaluate energy use, body composition changes, and blood chemistry perturbations in hibernating little brown bats (Myotis Lucifugus) experimentally infected with P. destructans to better understand with the physiological processes that underlie mortality from WNS"
        
        RESULTS: These data indicated that fat energy utilization, as demonstrated by changes in body composition, was two-fold higher for bats with WNS compared to negative controls. These differences were apparent in early stages of infection when torpor-arousal patterns were equivalent between infected and non-infected animals, suggesting that P. destructans has complex physiological impacts on its hots prior to onset of clinical signs indicative of late stage infections.
        
        Additionally, bats with mild to moderate skin lesions associated with early-stage WNS demonstrated chronic respiratory acidosis characterized by significantly elevated dissolved carbon dioxide, academia, and elevated bicarbonate. Potassium concentrations were also significantly higher among infected bats, sodium, chloride, and other hydration parameters were equivalent to controls.
        
        CONCLUSION: Integrating these novel findings on the physiological changes that occur in early-stage WNS with those previously documented in late-stage infections, we propose a multi-stage disease progression model that mechanistically describes the pathologic and physiologic effects underlying mortality of WNS in hibernating bats.
        
        This model identifies testable hypotheses for better understanding this disease, knowledge that will be critical for defining effective disease mitigation strategies aimed at reducing morbidity and mortality that results from WNS.
- - - - The fungus that causes white-nose syndrome, a deadly disease of hibernating bats, spreads rapidly by way of bats, then establishes and persists in soil and on walls of underground hibernation sites.
        
        Researchers call the disease WNS, because of the visible white fungal growth on infected bats' muzzles and wings. This cold-loving fungus infects bats during hibernation, when the bats reduce their metabolic rate and lower their body temperature to save energy over winter.
        
        Scientists hypothesized that WNS, caused by the fungus P.D, makes bats die by increasing the amount of energy they use during winter hibernation. Bats must carefully ration their energy supply during this time to survive without eating until spring.
    - - What is Hibernating?
        
        Animals that sleep through the winter, like bears, squirrels, bats, rodents and even some rattlesnakes, are said to hibernate through the winter.
      - The Physiological effects of white-nose syndrome in hibernating bats and ultimate causes of mortality from infection with P.d are not fully understood. According to BMC Physiology, Increased frequency of arousal from torpor described among hibernating bats with late-stage WNS is thought to accelerate depletion of fat reserves, but the physiological mechanisms that lead to these alternations in hibernation behavior have not been elucidated.
      - What does Pseudogymnoascusdestructans mean?
        
        Pseudogymnoascusdestructans is a psychrophilic fungus that causes white-nose syndrome, a fatal disease that has devastated bat populations in parts of the United States and Canada. Unlike species of Geomyces, Pseudogymnoascusdestructans forms asymmetrically curved conidia.
        
        The Cause of White-Nose Syndrome
        
        The fungus (p.d) thrives in low temperature (40-55 degrees F) and high humidity conditions commonly found in sites where bats hibernate. Infection of p. destructans, can causes skin lesions and disrupt the natural physiological processes and torpor cycles during hibernation causing bats to die.
        
        FUN FACT
        
        According to bbc.com, In 2006 a recreational caver took a photograph of a bat cave near Albany, New York. The bat had white fungus around its nose. This was the first evidence that a devastating disease had struck North America's bats. Called White-Nose Syndrome, the disease has rapidly spread across the United States and Canada.
        
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        Nearly 6 million bats have been killed, and numbers of some species - like the Northern Long Eared Bat - have declined by 99% in the north-east. "White-nose syndrome is dramatically changing the bat populations of North America," says Kock.
        
        The fungus might have come from Europe, where it does not appear to harm the bats it colonizes. Restricting human access to caves, and protecting their habitats, may help the bats!
        
        White-Nose Syndrome reported in dead bats in North Dakota!
        
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      - What does White-Nose Syndrome look like?
        
        it sometimes looks like a white fuzz on bats' snouts, which is how "white-nose syndrome" got it's name, but it is not always visible in the field. The fungus can also be detected on bats and in the environment using molecular techniques. At some Pd-infected sites, over 90% of bats don't survive.
        
        Signs / Symptoms of the Disease
        
        Bats affected with WNS do not always have obvious fungal growth. Sometimes bats with WNS simply display unusual behavior such as flying outside during the day in near-freezing weather. This quickly uses up their fat reserves at a time when insects are not available for food.
      - What species of bats are affected by White-Nose Syndrome?
        
        White-nose syndrome mostly affects hibernating bats. More than half of the 47 bat species living in the United States and Canada hibernating to survive the winter. Thirteen species, including two other endangered species and one threatened species, have been confirmed with White-Nose Syndrome in North America.
        
        The causative fungus, has been found on an additional six species, including 2 endangered species, without confirmation of the disease.
- - - - Thousands of people have visited affected caves, since WNS was first observed and there have been no reported human illnesses attributable to WNS. According to usgs, "we are still learning about WNS, but we know of no risk to humans from contact with WNS-affected bats. However, we urge taking precautions and not exposing yourself to WNS." Biologists and researchers use protective clothing when entering caves or handling bats.