Pseudogymnoascus destructans
| Pseudogymnoascus destructans | |
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| In white nose syndrome, Pseudogymnoascus destructans can be found growing on the muzzle, wing, and ear of bats, in this case, a little brown bat. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Phylum: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Dothideomycetes |
| Order: | Incerti ordinis |
| Family: | Pseudeurotiaceae |
| Genus: | Pseudogymnoascus |
| Species: | P. destrucans |
| Binomial name | |
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Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Blehert & Gargas) Minnis & D.L. Lindner |
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Pseudogymnoascus destructans (formerly known as Geomyces destructans) is a psychrophilic (cold-loving) fungus that causes white-nose syndrome (WNS), a fatal disease that has devastated bat populations in parts of the United States and Canada. Unlike other species of Geomyces, P. destructans forms asymmetrically curved conidia.Pseudogymnoascus destructans grows very slowly on artificial media and cannot grow at temperatures above 20 °C. It can grow around 4 °C to 20 °C, which encompasses the temperatures found in winter bat hibernacula. Phylogenic evaluation has revealed this organism should be reclassified under the family Pseudeurotiaceae, changing its name to Pseudogymnoascus destructans.
In 2008, Blehert et al. described the fungus associated with white-nose syndrome as a member of the genus Geomyces. In 2009, Gargas et al. were the first to describe the fungus as a unique species; the specific name they chose, "destructans", means "destroying". The fungus was definitively identified as the cause of the syndrome in bats, according to research published in 2011 by scientists at the United States Geological Survey. It was previously unknown whether this fungus was the primary cause of WNS or was an opportunistic pathogen associated with the disease, though strong evidence suggested that the fungus was the etiologic agent. In 2013, an analysis of the phylogenetic relationship indicated that this fungus was more closely related to the genus Pseudogymnoascus than to the genus Geomyces changing its Latin binomial to Pseudogymnoascus destructans.
Pseudogymnoascus destructans is believed to originate from Europe. The current P. destructans European distribution includes Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
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