Microbial isolates with Anti-Pseudogymnoascus destructans activities from Western Canadian bat wings.

Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd) is the causative agent of white-nose syndrome, which has resulted in the death of millions of bats in North America (NA) since 2006. Based on mortalities in eastern NA, the westward spread of infections likely poses a significant threat to western NA bats. To help prevent/reduce Pd infections in bats in western NA, we isolated bacteria from the wings of wild bats and screened for inhibitory activity against Pd. In total, we obtained 1,362 bacterial isolates from 265 wild bats of 13 species in western Canada. Among the 1,362 isolates, 96 showed inhibitory activity against Pd based on a coculture assay. The inhibitory activities varied widely among these isolates, ranging from slowing fungal growth to complete inhibition. Interestingly, host bats containing isolates with anti-Pd activities were widely distributed, with no apparent geographic or species-specific pattern. However, characteristics of roosting sites and host demography showed significant associations with the isolation of anti-Pd bacteria. Specifically, anthropogenic roosts and swabs from young males had higher frequencies of anti-Pd bacteria than those from natural roosts and those from other sex and age-groups, respectively. These anti-Pd bacteria could be potentially used to help mitigate the impact of WNS. Field trials using these as well as additional microbes from future screenings are needed in order to determine their effectiveness for the prevention and treatment against WNS.

Poly[[tetraaquadi-µ(4)-glutarato-µ(2)-terephthalato-dineodymium(III)] heptadecahydrate].

The title compound, [Nd(2)(C(5)H(6)O(4))(2)(C(8)H(4)O(4))(H(2)O)(4)]·17H(2)O, obtained via hydrothermal reaction of Nd(2)O(3) with glutaric acid and terephthalic acid, assembles as a three-dimensional open framework with ten-coordinate Nd-O polyhedra. The asymmetric part of the unit cell contains half a glutarate anion, a quarter of a terephthalate dianion, half an Nd(III) cation, one coordinated water molecule and 4.25 solvent water molecules. Each [NdO(10)] coordination polyhedron is comprised of six O atoms originating from four glutarate anions, two others from a terephthalate carboxylate group, which coordinates in a bidentate fashion, and two from water molecules. The Nd-O distances range from 2.4184 (18) to 2.7463 (18) Å. The coordination polyhedra are interconnected by the glutarate anions, extending as a two-dimensional layer throughout the bc plane. Individual two-dimensional layers are interlinked via terephthalate anions along the a axis. This arrangement results in rectangular-shaped cavities with interstices of approximately 3.5 × 6 × 6.5 Š(approximately 140 Å(3)), which are occupied by water molecules. The Nd(III) cations, terephthalate anions, glutarate anions and one of the interstitial water molecules are located on special crystallographic positions. The Nd-terephthalate-Nd units are located across twofold rotation axes parallel to [100], with the Nd(III) cations located directly on these axes. In addition, the terephthalate anion is bisected by a crystallographic mirror plane perpendicular to that axis, thus creating an inversion centre in the middle of the aromatic ring. The glutarate ligand is bisected by a crystallographic mirror plane perpendicular to (001). One of the solvent water molecules lies on a site of 2/m symmetry, and the symmetry-imposed disorder of its H atoms extends to the H atoms of the other four solvent water molecules, which are disordered over two equally occupied and mutually exclusive sets of positions.