DNA metabarcoding as non-invasive tool for conservation of Seychelles bat Coleura seychellensis

Bats make up a quarter of all mammals. Almost of the species are considered threatened or near threatened globally. Coleura seychellensis, belonging to Microchiroptera, is an endemic insectivorous bat in Seychelles. This species, reported as widely distributed, is currently regarded as a Critically Endangered species, being restricted to just Silhouette and … of Seychelles islands (Gerlach and Taylor, 2006). The most severe threats are identified as increasing human population with associated loss of lowland forests, clearing of coconut plantations, and habitat modifications due to invasive plants. Further, the insect community, most likely changed, causing issues for the bat diet. In this regard, it is very important to study C. seychellensis for its conservation. The importance of the gut microbiota in the health of the host is widely recognized. The first step in its investigation is the description of the presence of different microbial groups (i.e. bacteria and fungi). Moreover, feces analysis can suggest a general view of the diet of the host. The present work is aimed to study the fecal samples of bats (a) to describe the bacterial and fungal groups of gut microbiota and (b) to investigate the main diet of the C. seychellensis. A plastic film was placed under the bat colony in the cave during the day and left for 2 days. Fecal pellets were sampled on the top of the plastic film using a sterile spoon and placed in DNA/RNA Shield reagent (Zymo). DNA from six pooled samples was extracted using QIAamp PowerFecal Pro DNA Kit (Qiagen). The C. seychellensis microbiome and diet was investigated via DNA metabarcoding of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene, fungal ITS2 region and arthropod COI gene.