New Alphacoronavirus in Mystacina tuberculata Bats, New Zealand

Richard J. Hall

, Jing Wang, Matthew Peacey, Nicole E. Moore, Kate McInnes, and Daniel M. Tompkins

Author affiliations: Institute of Environmental Science and Research, Upper Hutt, New Zealand (R.J. Hall, J. Wang, M. Peacey, N.E. Moore); Department of Conservation, Wellington, New Zealand. (K. McInnes); and Landcare Research, Dunedin, New Zealand. (D.M. Tompkins)

Abstract

Because of recent interest in bats as reservoirs of emerging diseases, we investigated the presence of viruses in Mystacina tuberculata bats in New Zealand. Novel alphacoronavirus sequence was detected in guano from roosts of M. tuberculata bats in pristine indigenous forest on a remote offshore island (Codfish Island).

Human settlement in New Zealand is relatively recent compared with that of many countries and extends back ≈800 years to when early Polynesian explorers first arrived (1). A wide variety of exotic flora and fauna have since been introduced, and major changes to the landscape and ecology have occurred, particularly once European settlers arrived 150 years ago. However, large areas of New Zealand that are representative of a prehuman state still remain, in particular offshore, islands such as Whenua hou (Codfish Island), which is situated off the southern coast of New Zealand. Before human settlement, only 3 species of terrestrial mammals were present, all of which were bats. Why nonvolant mammals have been absent is unknown, but this absence was probably caused by major extinction events and subsequent geographic isolation that prevented recolonization (2,3).

Only 2 bat species remain in New Zealand and both are considered vulnerable (www.iucnredlist.org/). The long-tailed bat (Chalinolobus tuberculatus) belongs to the family Vespertilionidae and is believed to have arrived from Australia ≈1 million years ago (4). The lesser short-tailed bat (Mystacina tuberculata) is the sole surviving member of the family Mystacinidae in New Zealand (5). M. tuberculata bats are believed to have diverged from other bat species ≈20 million years ago (6) and have lived in geographic isolation from other bat species until the arrival of C. tuberculatus bats (3). M. tuberculata bats also exhibit one of the widest feeding ranges of any bat species and occupy a niche similar to rats and mice because these bats can walk on the ground by using their wings (7).

Little is known about the microorganisms present in these bats. One study found no evidence of pathogenic bacteria or lyssaviruses in them, but reported a Sarcocystis sp. (8). Given the recent intense interest in bats as a reservoir of emerging diseases and the advent of high-throughput sequencing as a virus discovery tool, we investigated the presence of viruses in M. tuberculatabats.