Harris S L, Johnson N, Brookes S M, Hutson A M, Fooks A R, Jones G
Rabies and Wildlife Zoonoses Group, Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA), WHO Collaborating Centre for the Characterisation of Rabies and Rabies-Related Viruses, Surrey, UK.
Dev Biol (Basel). 2008;131:347-63.
The United Kingdom has performed passive surveillance for European bat lyssaviruses (EBLVs) since 1987, and species-targeted surveillance since 2003. One critical component of these studies is the accurate identification of bats either submitted for testing or sampled in the field. Identification is dependent on numerous morphological characteristics. Whilst this is an effective means of bat identification, a number of problems remain with this approach. It relies on the experience of bat specialists and can lead to problems in differentiating members of the Myotis genus, particularly between Myotis mystacinus (whiskered bat) and Myotis brandtii (Brandt's bat), and between the most common species of the genus Pipistrellus. Furthermore, degradation of bats submitted for testing can also lead to problems in making an accurate species identification. Comparison of genetic sequence data could offer an alternative approach to differentiating bat species when morphological characterisation is not possible. Using tissue samples from UK resident bat species, sequence analysis of the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b gene, and the beta-actin gene allowed for identification of many of the most common bat species in the UK, and genetic separation of two morphologically cryptic species. Application of this approach identified the species of a bat infected with EBLV-2 in Surrey as Myotis daubentoni (Daubenton's bat).
自1987年以来，英国一直在对欧洲蝙蝠狂犬病病毒（EBLVs）进行被动监测，并自2003年起开展针对性物种监测。这些研究的一个关键组成部分是准确识别送检或在野外采样的蝙蝠。识别依赖于众多形态特征。虽然这是蝙蝠识别的一种有效方法，但这种方法仍存在一些问题。它依赖于蝙蝠专家的经验，并且在区分鼠耳蝠属成员时可能会出现问题，特别是在髭蝠（Myotis mystacinus）和布氏鼠耳蝠（Myotis brandtii）之间，以及伏翼属最常见的物种之间。此外，送检蝙蝠的降解也可能导致准确识别物种出现问题。当无法进行形态特征描述时，比较基因序列数据可以提供一种区分蝙蝠物种的替代方法。利用来自英国本土蝙蝠物种的组织样本，对线粒体DNA细胞色素b基因和β-肌动蛋白基因进行序列分析，能够识别出英国许多最常见的蝙蝠物种，并对两种形态相似的物种进行基因分离。应用这种方法确定了在萨里感染EBLV-2的一只蝙蝠的物种为水鼠耳蝠（Myotis daubentoni）。
