A Short History

 

White nose syndrome was first introduced in New York State in the winter of 2006-2007. Scientists suspect that it was introduced to North America by cavers who had been in caves in Europe. The fungus has been found in caves in twelve countries in Europe, though bats there seem to have adapted to it and they are unaffected. One theory is that the fungus already killed off the bats that were most succeptable to it, but that it happened a such a long time ago that scientists did not notice it.

 

The fungus has been documented in at least 22 US states and 5 Canadian provinces and has killed more than 6 million bats of 11 different species, 4 of which are endangered. 

 

 

A Hardy Fungus

 

P. destructans (the fungus) is fairly hardy and can live off of the remains of most organisms that share caves with bats. This means that it does not rely on the bats exclusively to live and that it can live in the caves for a long time whether or not bats are there too.

 

Research has shown that the fungus can live on any complex carbon source - this includes insects, undigested insets in guano (bat poo), wood, dead fungi, and cave fish. All different nitrogen sources found in caves are fair game. The two main requirements for the fungus to thrive is temperature and water availability: P. destructans requires temperatures below 20º C (68º F) and environments where water is freely available. Furthermore, the fungus can grow over a wide range of pH, and doesn't have trouble growing except in very acidic environments.

 

What the fungus does once it enters a cave is create an environment that degrades the structure of the main protein in skin, called keratin. It creates a highly alkaline environment that can burn skin, which is why infected bats often have holes in their skin making them much more suceptable to infections.

 

 

Not Just In Caves

 

Graduate student Daniel B. Raudabaugh's research has shown that caves are not the only place that this fungus can live. As long as the temperature is low enough and there is enough free water the fungus could grow. This means barns, bat boxes, mines, are all susceptable. 

This is an introduced fungus and it is not endemic to North America, it is not in every cave.

 

Scientists across the country are trying to figure out how to rid North American caves of this fungus which is so deadly to bats. One major problem with most traditional solutions to invasive fungi (copper, for example) is that they would also kill other fungi that are important parts of cave ecosystems.