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36th Annual North American Symposium on Bat Research
Click here to register and submit abstract Abstract example (by M. A. Neubaum, Bat Research News student award winner 2005):
Molecular Ecology of Big Brown Bats (Eptesicus fuscus): Hybrids or Not? Melissa Andre Neubaum, Marlis R. Douglas, Michael E. Douglas, and Thomas J. O’Shea, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO; U. S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins, CO
Recent genetic studies documented the occurrence of several geographically distinct mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineages of the big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus) in North America. Individuals from tow of these lineages, an eastern and southwestern form, co-occurred within four maternity colonies in Fort Collins, Colorado. This discovery of two divergent mtDNA forms in sympatry has prompted a host of ecological questions regarding possible differences between haplotypes in local distribution, reproduction, body size, behavior, and susceptibility to different rabies virus variants. We captured big brown bats at maternity roosts throughout Fort Collins and several locations elsewhere in Colorado. Morphometric variables were measured and wing biopsies were collected for genetic analysis. Radiographs of pregnant female bats were taken in order to assess litter size (typically one in the western U. S. and two in the eastern U. S.). Sequence analysis and restriction digests of the ND2 region of the mitochondrial DNA molecule were employed to determine mtDNA haplotype of individual bats. Haplotype was used to evaluate ecological data for litter size, body size, virus variant in bats killed by rabies, regional distributions, over-wintering habits, and composition of colonies and populations within Colorado. In addition, nuclear introns were used to determine if the two mtDNA lineages are hybridizing. Thus far, no outstanding distinctiveness has been found between the mtDNA haplotypes in liter size, pelage color, forearm size, coloniality, and virus variant in bats killed by rabies. Differences in distribution seem to occur along the Colorado Front Range, with an increasing proportion of southwestern haplotypes occurring farther south. Additionally, results from one nuclear intron have demonstrated hybridization between the two lineages.
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36th NASBR |