Case report of a new pathogenic variant of Aspergillus fumigatus isolated from Hipposideros cervinus (Chiroptera: Hipposideridae) in Sarawak, Malaysia
S.S.
Jaya Seelan 1 & F.A. Anwarali2
1 Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Locked Bag 2073,Universiti Malaysia Sabah, 88999 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
2
Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas
79409-3131, U.S.A.
Email: 1
avinash80us@yahoo.com
Date of
publication 26 March 2009
ISSN 0974-7907
(online) | 0974-7893 (print)
Editor: Jacob V. Cheeran
Manuscript
details:
Ms # o2084
Received 23
October 2008
Finally accepted
24 February 2009
Citation: Seelan, S.S.J. & F.A. Anwarali(2009). Case report of a new pathogenic variant of Aspergillus fumigatus isolated from Hipposideros cervinus (Chiroptera: Hipposideridae) in Sarawak, Malaysia. Journal of
Threatened Taxa 1(3): 190-191.
Copyright: © S.S. Jaya Seelan & F.A. Anwarali 2009.
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this article in any medium
for non-profit purposes, reproduction and distribution by providing adequate
credit to the authors and the source of publication.
Acknowledgements:We would like to thank Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
(UNIMAS) and Texas Tech University (TTU) for giving us the opportunity to
participate in Sowell-UNIMAS Expedition 2006 (refer to Anwaraliet al. 2008). The authors are also grateful to Professor Maren Klich of the United States Agricultural Department
(USDA), Professor Jens Frisvad Denmark Technical
University (DTU) and Associate Professor Dr. Sepiah Muid of Unimas for providing various information on the Aspergillusspecies identification. We would
also like to thank Associate Professor Dr. M.T. Abdullah from UNIMAS for sharing
his insight on the ecology of bats in Borneo and all team members of TTU and
Faculty of Resource Science and Technology, UNIMAS for their field assistance.
This study was conducted with the kind permission of Sarawak Forest Department
and Sarawak Forest Cooperation with permit number NPW.907.4.2 (1)-45 to M.T.
Abdullah. The Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister Department, Putra Jaya,
Malaysia provided the permit for Faisal’s team to conduct research in Sabah,
Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia is fully acknowledged. The recent survey on
bats was partly supported by a grant from Mr. James Sowell to R.J. Baker and a
FRG 01 (S07)595 2006(28) Unimas/21/09-0.1.2.5 (15)
small grant to M.T. Abdullah.
Zoosporic fungi are
currently receiving a lot of attention with regards to emerging infectious and
wildlife diseases. Fungal infection has been reported in humans and domestic
animals worldwide, mostly studied in clinical isolates (Alekseev 2003; Zdenek 2004). There
are fewer reports concerning wildlife diseases, especially among insectivorous
and frugivorous bats in Sarawak, in Malaysian Borneo.
Recently, Seelan et al. (2008) found six species of Aspergillus isolated from 13 individuals of both
insectivorous and frugivorous bats. Out of 23 individual bats observed, 13
(56.5%) were identified as hosts for 17 fungus isolates, including A. restrictus, A. fumigatus,A. clavatus, A. japonicus,A. niger and A. sydowii. On
physical examination of one insectivorous bat Hipposideros cervinus (Fawn Round Leaf Bat), it was noted that
the bat had lesions near the ear openings, with a powdery surface on the skin
parts. Scraping and swab samples from
the lesion were taken for further investigation and characterization. The swab
from the infected area was cultured on Sabaroud’sagar and incubated at 37°C. It was
confirmed that the infection was due to Aspergillus fumigatus. The isolate (UNIMAS F009) is a thermophilicfungus with biochemical and morphological characteristics that differ from
those reported by Raper & Fennell (1965, 1977),
and Klich (2002). A. fumigatus (pathogenic
and thermophilic) was the first record isolated from
the chiropterans in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. Furthermore, this isolate was found to be a
new variant of A. fumigatus because it could
thrive from 250C to 650C, with an optimum temperature at 370C, producing a pink
soluble pigment under Czapek’s media only. The macro and micro morphology of this
isolate are described as Klich (2002).
Macromorphology: Colony diameter
on Czapek’s Yeast Extract agar (CYA) attaining about
30-55mm (7 days at 250C); colony growth very slow; conidia on this media were
greenish; mycelium white; exudates absent; reverse uncolored; soluble pigment
absent; texture floccose; sparse sporulation. On malt extract agar (MEA), colony growth was
about 50-60mm (7 days at 250C); conidial color was grey green; reverse pink;
texture as on CYA25. On Czapek’s agar, the colony color was green with white
mycelia growing in patches; colony sectors were dividing into three more
variants from this isolate. A soluble
pink pigment was present when the Czplate was kept at 370C. Colony growth on
CYA37 was exceptionally rapid, sporulation was
sparse; conidia color grayish-green. This isolate cannot grow at 50C, and is able to grow up to 650C.
Micromorphology: Conidial heads
columnar; conidiophores uncolored, smooth-walled 350-600 x 6-10µm, pyriform to spathulatevesicles. Vesicles 10-25µm
in diameter; uniseriate; phialides5-7 x 2-3µm, all phialides parallel to each other and
the conidiophore axis. Conidia globoseto broadly ellipsoidal, smooth to finely roughned,
4-6µm in diameter (Figure 1).
Interspecific association
There are three
color morphs of H. cervinus, i.e. dark grey,
yellowish-brown and bright orange (Payne et al. 1985), which might relate to
differences in the niches that various individuals occupy (M.T. Abdullah pers.
comm.). The host is well distributed in
Sarawak, roosts in caves in large colonies and feeds in the forest understorey (Hall et al. 2004; Payne et al. 1985). With the cave temperatures of about 250C,
dense cover and ambient forest temperature of about 270C and humidity of
>85%, the tropical rain forest in Sarawak provides a conducive environment
for the growth of pathogenic fungi on wildlife. These conditions, combined with their roosting in
large colonies in damp caves has resulted in bats becoming a favorable
reservoir for different types of pathogenic mycoflora.
Further work should be done to discover other potentially zoonotic mycoflora in wild mammals in Sarawak, Borneo.
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