DIVERSITY OF BACTERIA IN THE SEXUALLY SELECTED EPAULETTES OF THE LITTLE YELLOW-SHOULDERED BAT Sturnira lilium (CHIROPTERA: PHYLLOSTOMIDAE)

Résumé 0

"In bats, chemical signals are particularly important for com - munication. Although the scent from body fluids might be cru - cial to mating success, the presence of microbes in odor-pro - ducing structures might be indispensable because some subs - tances must be metabolized by bacteria and experience bioche - mical changes before they acquire detectable odors and beco - me meaningful signals. The goal of this study was to identify bacteria in sexually dimorphic shoulder glands (‘epaulettes’) of males of Sturnira lilium and S. bogotensis , and determine whether some of these bacteria have been reported as present in sexually-selected male organs of other bat species. Identifi - cation of bacteria was attained through amplification and se - quencing of their corresponding 16S rRNA genes. Fourty-two species of bacteria were identified in S. lilium male (n=3) and female (n=3) specimens and a S. bogotensis male. Males of S. lilium and S. bogotensis had 15 and 7 species of bacteria in epaulettes, respectively. Similarity between males and fema - les, and between body parts in terms of their bacteriological profile was very low. Although there were common bacteria in epaulettes and backs, Citrobacter freundii , Enterococcus faecalis , Exiguobacterium acetylicum and Flavobacterium mi - zutaii were exclusively found in epaulettes of S. lilium . From the identified bacteria in epaulettes of males of S. lilium , four species ( Staphylococcus saprophyticus , S. sciuri , E. faecalis and Bacillus cereus) have been found in sexually-selected male organs of other bat species. Common genera of bacteria in se - xually selected male traits of bats are Bacillus , Staphylococcus , Corynebacterium and Enterococcus ."