Also as part of the International Conference in Prague, two molecular biologists were invited to talk about bats & molecules : Marianne Volleth Emma Teeling et.
The German Marianne Volleth working on the chromosomes, it uses all the chromosomes (= Karyotype) to study kinship, particularly among families. To do, a new technique (FISH = Fluorescence In-Situ Hybridization) is used to highlight the different chromosomes. Characterization of Robertsonian rearrangements (movement of pieces of chromosomes) can detect kinship (eg. between Serotine (Eptesicus spp) and Pipistrelles (Pipistrellus spp)). More studies on these chromosomes will be necessary to trace the existence of 2 suborders, Yinpterochiroptera & Yangochiroptera, revealed by a study of Emma Teeling & al published in Science in 2005.
The second intervenante, Emma Teeling, continued in University College Dublin in particular on thechanges in sensory perception among bats with work on molecular biology of olfaction, vision and also the hearing (echolocation). Otherwise, molecules are a great tool to work also on diseases as the White-Nose Syndrome, with implications in the field of human health and conservation.
Also in the field of molecules, a consortium of researchers is involved in the project " Genome 10K ». The latter aims to sequence the entire genome for at least one species of bat in every existing genre and thus constitute a database for work on the diversity of traits (morphological, physiological, ecological). The cost of genome sequencing is an obstacle to this work but the continually falling prices and interest of this project may help its realization in the coming years with many opportunities in the field of research on bats!
Yann
