Bats are hosts for a variety of microorganisms, however, little is known about the presence of Chlamydiales and hemotropic mycoplasmas. This study investigated 475 captive and free-living bats from Switzerland, Germany, and Costa Rica for Chlamydiales and hemotropic mycoplasmas by PCR to determine the prevalence and phylogeny of these organisms. Screening for Chlamydiales resulted in a total prevalence of 31.4%. Positive samples originated from captive and free-living bats from all three countries. Sequencing of 15 samples allowed the detection of two phylogenetically distinct groups. These groups share sequence identities to Chlamydiaceae, and to Chlamydia-like organisms including Rhabdochlamydiaceae and unclassified Chlamydiales from environmental samples, respectively. PCR analysis for the presence of hemotropic mycoplasmas resulted in a total prevalence of 0.7%, comprising free-living bats from Germany and Costa Rica. Phylogenetic analysis revealed three sequences related to other unidentified mycoplasmas found in vampire bats and Chilean bats. Bats can harbor Chlamydiales and hemotropic mycoplasmas and the newly described sequences in this study indicate that the diversity of these bacteria in bats is much larger than previously thought. Both, Chlamydiales and hemotropic mycoplasmas are not restricted to certain bat species or countries and captive and free-living bats can be colonized. In conclusion, bats represent another potential host or vector for novel, previously unidentified, Chlamydiales and hemotropic mycoplasmas.

中文翻译：

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圈养和自由生活的蝙蝠中衣原体和嗜血性支原体的流行率和系统发育。

蝙蝠是多种微生物的宿主，然而，人们对衣原体和嗜血性支原体的存在知之甚少。这项研究通过 PCR 对来自瑞士、德国和哥斯达黎加的 475 只圈养和自由生活的蝙蝠进行了衣原体和嗜血性支原体调查，以确定这些生物体的流行率和系统发育。衣原体筛查结果显示总患病率为 31.4%。阳性样本来自这三个国家的圈养和自由生活的蝙蝠。对 15 个样本进行测序可以检测到两个系统发育上不同的群体。这些群体分别与衣原体科和衣原体样生物（包括环境样本中的弹状衣原体科和未分类衣原体目）具有相同的序列同一性。PCR 分析发现嗜血支原体的总患病率为 0.7%，其中包括来自德国和哥斯达黎加的自由生活蝙蝠。系统发育分析揭示了与吸血蝙蝠和智利蝙蝠中发现的其他未鉴定支原体相关的三个序列。蝙蝠可以携带衣原体和嗜血性支原体，这项研究中新描述的序列表明，蝙蝠体内这些细菌的多样性比之前想象的要大得多。衣原体和嗜血性支原体并不局限于某些蝙蝠物种或国家，圈养和自由生活的蝙蝠都可以定殖。总之，蝙蝠代表了先前未鉴定的新型衣原体和嗜血性支原体的另一种潜在宿主或载体。