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Subterranean Mammals: Reservoirs of Infection or Overlooked Sentinels of Anthropogenic Environmental Soiling?

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Abstract

Global reports of emergent pathogens in humans have intensified efforts to identify wildlife reservoirs. Subterranean mammals, such as bathyergid mole rats, are largely overlooked, despite their high-level exposure to soil-dwelling microbes. Initial assessment of bathyergid reservoir potential was determined using a broad-range 16S rRNA PCR approach, which revealed an 83% PCR-positivity for the 234 bathyergid lung samples evaluated. The presence of the Bacillus cereus complex, a ubiquitous bacterial assemblage, containing pathogenic and zoonotic species, was confirmed through nucleotide sequencing, prior to group- and species-specific PCR sequencing. The latter allowed for enhanced placement and prevalence estimations of Bacillus in four bathyergid species sampled across a range of transformed landscapes in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. Two novel Bacillus strains (1 and 2) identified on the basis of the concatenated 16S rRNA-groEL-yeaC data set (2066 nucleotides in length), clustered with B. mycoides (ATCC 6462) and B. weihenstephanensis (WSBC 10204), within a well-supported monophyletic lineage. The levels of co-infection, evaluated with a groEL strain-specific assay, developed specifically for this purpose, were high (71%). The overall Bacillus presence of 17.95% (ranging from 0% for Georychus capensis to 45.35% for Bathyergus suillus) differed significantly between host species (χ2 = 69.643; df = 3; P < 0.05), being significantly higher in bathyergids sampled near an urban informal settlement (χ2 = 70.245; df = 3; P < 0.05). The results highlight the sentinel potential of soil-dwelling mammals for monitoring anthropogenically introduced, opportunistic pathogens and the threats they pose to vulnerable communities, particularly in the developing world.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) and the National Research Foundation of South Africa for research support through individual (ADSB), chair (NCB) and facilities (No: UID78566) grants. The views expressed here are not those of the NRF.

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  1. Mammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology & Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag 20, Hatfield, 0028, South Africa

    Liezl Retief & Armanda D. S. Bastos

  2. South African Research Chair of Mammal Behavioural Ecology and Physiology, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag 20, Hatfield, 0028, South Africa

    Nigel C. Bennett

  3. Department of Zoology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Cape Town, 7700, South Africa

    Jennifer U. M. Jarvis

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  1. Liezl Retief
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  2. Nigel C. Bennett
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Retief, L., Bennett, N.C., Jarvis, J.U.M. et al. Subterranean Mammals: Reservoirs of Infection or Overlooked Sentinels of Anthropogenic Environmental Soiling?. EcoHealth 14, 662–674 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-017-1281-6

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