Small tissue biopsies are collected from the thin wing membrane of bats
Our lab recently published a study that indicates the usefulness of discarded tissues for genetic research. White-nose syndrome is sweeping through the North American bat population. The disease is caused by a fungus that is thought to prematurely wake bats from hibernation. Researchers enter bat hibernacula and collect swabs and tissue biopsies for white-nose syndrome testing. As you can imagine, researchers want to minimize their own disturbance to the bats so that they remain as strong and as healthy as possible. As a result, very few, very small tissue biospies are collected. The tissue samples are cultured in laboratories for a period of time, and typically discarded. We tested whether we could extract and amplify DNA after the culturing process. Our results indicate that it is possible! We are sharing this information with the community of scientists that collecting tissue samples so that we can work together to study white-nose syndrome and the genetics of bats.