Abstract:
Bats accounts for nearly 20% of all mammalian species and is not the widely studied
group of mammals in Pakistan. Bats harbor many emerging zoonotic viruses that are
a significant cause of infectious diseases in humans and livestock including Hendra,
Nipah, Ebola, Marburg and Coronaviruses. Aerosolization of bats secretions like
saliva, urine or feces causes the transmission of bat-borne viruses to other host
animals. Although being the potential hosts of many zoonotic viruses, bats are not
being widely studied for disease transmission due to lack of accessible bat colonies
in field and expertise for investigating the bat-virus relationship. Range and location
of bat species which are known to be vulnerable to infection, extend of infection and
virus titer in different bat species are the principal factors which needs to be
determined for investigating potential species for viruses. In this study we screened
bats species of Pakistan for the detection of Nipah virus. This gives us an
understanding about the relationship of bats and viruses, virus persistence in natural
environment and the risk factors associated with disease transmission to humans and
animals in Pakistan. Bats evolutionary and biodiversity studies are also widely done
to determine their phylogenetic characteristics. Diversity of bat species of Pakistan
was reviewed and compared in this study. We developed DNA barcode assay based
on mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene. DNA barcode from
taxonomically unknown specie is compared with reference collection of barcodes to
determine cryptic specie level identification. Primers target a specific region of COI
gene that is highly differentiating among this order. Distinct genome sequences of
mitochondrial COI gene from various bats of Pakistan give species identification and
phylogenetic analyses. Measures should be taken to preserve biodiversity of bats in
Pakistan.
