RESEARCH ARTICLE Phylogenetic relationships and diversity of bat-associated Leptospira and the histopathological evaluation of these infections in bats from Grenada, West Indies 1☯ 1☯ 1 1 Amanda I. Bevans , Daniel M. FitzpatrickID , Diana M. Stone , Brian P. ButlerID , Maia 2 1 P. Smith , Sonia CheethamID * 1 Department of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, St. George's University, Grenada, West a1111111111 Indies, 2 Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, St. George's University, Grenada, West Indies a1111111111 a1111111111 ☯ These authors contributed equally to this work. a1111111111 *
[email protected] a1111111111 Abstract Bats can harbor zoonotic pathogens, but their status as reservoir hosts for Leptospira bacte- OPEN ACCESS ria is unclear. During 2015±2017, kidneys from 47 of 173 bats captured in Grenada, West Citation: Bevans AI, Fitzpatrick DM, Stone DM, Indies, tested PCR-positive for Leptospira. Sequence analysis of the Leptospira rpoB gene Butler BP, Smith MP, Cheetham S (2020) Phylogenetic relationships and diversity of bat- from 31 of the positive samples showed 87±91% similarity to known Leptospira species. associated Leptospira and the histopathological Pairwise and phylogenetic analysis of sequences indicate that bats from Grenada harbor as evaluation of these infections in bats from Grenada, many as eight undescribed Leptospira genotypes that are most similar to known pathogenic West Indies. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 14(1): e0007940. Leptospira, including known zoonotic serovars. Warthin-Starry staining revealed leptospiral https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0007940 organisms colonizing the renal tubules in 70% of the PCR-positive bats examined. Mild Editor: Tao Lin, Baylor College of Medicine, inflammatory lesions in liver and kidney observed in some bats were not significantly corre- UNITED STATES lated with renal Leptospira PCR-positivity.