United States Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, CO 80526, USA.
BMC Biol. 2010 Nov 11;8:135. doi: 10.1186/1741-7007-8-135.
White-nose syndrome (WNS) is causing unprecedented declines in several species of North American bats. The characteristic lesions of WNS are caused by the fungus Geomyces destructans, which erodes and replaces the living skin of bats while they hibernate. It is unknown how this infection kills the bats. We review here the unique physiological importance of wings to hibernating bats in relation to the damage caused by G. destructans and propose that mortality is caused by catastrophic disruption of wing-dependent physiological functions. Mechanisms of disease associated with G. destructans seem specific to hibernating bats and are most analogous to disease caused by chytrid fungus in amphibians.
白鼻综合征（WNS）正在导致北美的几种蝙蝠物种出现前所未有的衰退。WNS 的特征性病变是由真菌 Geomyces destructans 引起的，这种真菌会在蝙蝠冬眠时侵蚀和取代蝙蝠的活体皮肤。目前尚不清楚这种感染是如何导致蝙蝠死亡的。我们在这里回顾了翅膀对于冬眠蝙蝠的独特生理重要性，以及与 G. destructans 造成的损害之间的关系，并提出死亡是由翅膀依赖的生理功能的灾难性破坏引起的。与 G. destructans 相关的疾病机制似乎只针对冬眠的蝙蝠，与两栖动物中粘菌真菌引起的疾病最为相似。
