WNS and Culture samples

Like histology, culture samples require skin tissue for testing.  Culture samples require a 1.5cmx1.5cm piece of wing tissue from the bat.  This sample is then placed on a dextrose medium containing chloramphenicol and gentamycin.  Plates are incubated at 45°F for 10-30 days and examined every 1-3 days for traces of G. destructans.  Biologists look for curved single-celled conidia when looking at samples under a microscope.  Fungal cultures are more complicated than histology tests because of the nonsterile nature of bat wings. Tissues for culture tests may be removed from the muzzle, wing, or ear tissues, though wing tissue is preferred.  Like histology tests, results take a long time to yield conclusive data and sample sizes are so big that the bat being studied can not survive once a culture sample has been removed. The following image is what biologists look for when determining if bats have been infected with WNS.