Recovery of a phytopathogenic bacterium Lonsdalea quercina from a lesser horseshoe bat in Moravian karst, Czech Republic

While bats are important reservoirs and vectors of pathogenic agents with zoonotic potential, their skin-associated microbial community could harbour organisms relevant to bat health as well as those associated with bat habitats in general. A total of 140 skin swabs collected from bats in the Czech Republic were cultured for bacteria from 2012 to 2013. A phytopathogen, isolated from a lesser horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros), was identified as Lonsdalea quercina by MALDI-TOF (matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry) and characterized as Lonsdalea quercina subsp. britannica using phylogenetic analysis based on a 16S rRNA and two housekeeping (infB and atpD) genes. Lonsdalea quercina subsp. britannica is a gram-negative facultative anaerobic bacterium reported to cause bark canker and drippy nut disease in oaks. Our finding provides evidence of Lonsdalea quercina in the Czech Republic (Moravian Karst). As the lesser horseshoe bat is a sedentary species, it may bio-indicate the presence of the phytopathogenic bacterium in the broadleaved forests of the habitat of pathogen recovery. We therefore suggest active surveillance of the area of the Moravian Karst for signs of oak disease and/or decline.