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Bacterial microbiota of the ocular surface of captive and free‐ranging microbats: D esmodus rotundus, D iameus youngi and A rtibeus lituratus
Author(s) -
Leigue dos Santos Lucianne,
MontianiFerreira Fabiano,
Lima Leandro,
Lange Rogério,
barros Filho Ivan R.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
veterinary ophthalmology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.594
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1463-5224
pISSN - 1463-5216
DOI - 10.1111/vop.12054
Subject(s) - biology , bacteria , microbiology and biotechnology , zoology , genetics
Objectives To investigate normal aerobic bacterial microbiota of the eye surface in vvcaptive and free‐ranging bats belonging to the suborder Microchiroptera. Animals studied A total of 36 bats belonging to three different species ( D esmodus rotundus, D iameus youngi, and A rtibeus lituratus ) were used to perform this investigation. Thirteen D iameus youngi and six D esmodus rotundus were trapped in a cave, and 17 captive A rtibeus lituratus were obtained from an experimental colony. Both free‐ranging and captive bats were free of apparent ocular or systemic disease. Procedures Corneal and conjunctival swabs were collected from both eyes to identify the resident bacterial microbiota. Results Seventeen bats had positive bacterial cultures in one or both eyes. Considering all isolates, Gram‐positive bacteria (82.6%) predominated over those that were Gram‐negative bacteria (17.4%). Coagulase‐negative staphylococci (30.4%) were the most isolated genus, followed by B acillus spp. (26%) and C orynebacterium spp. (21%). Only four Gram‐negative species were isolated: S higella spp., H afnia alvei, M organella morganii, and F lavobacterium odoratum . Conclusions In this study, bacterial microbiota of the ocular surface of bats was described, and S taphylococcus spp. were the most frequently isolated type of microorganism from healthy bat eyes.