Bats are distinctive among mammals due to their ability to fly, use laryngeal echolocation, and tolerate viruses. However, there are currently no reliable cellular models for studying bat biology or their response to viral infections. Here, we created induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from two species of bats: the wild greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) and the greater mouse-eared bat (Myotis myotis). The iPSCs from both bat species showed similar characteristics and had a gene expression profile resembling that of cells attacked by viruses. They also had a high number of endogenous viral sequences, particularly retroviruses. These results suggest that bats have evolved mechanisms to tolerate a large load of viral sequences and may have a more intertwined relationship with viruses than previously thought. Further study of bat iPSCs and their differentiated progeny will provide insights into bat biology, virus host relationships, and the molecular basis of bats’ special traits.

蝙蝠在哺乳动物中与众不同，因为它们具有飞行能力、使用喉部回声定位和耐受病毒的能力。然而，目前还没有可靠的细胞模型来研究蝙蝠生物学或它们对病毒感染的反应。在这里，我们从两种蝙蝠中创建了诱导多能干细胞 (iPSC)：野生大马蹄蝠 ( Rhinolophus ferrumequinum ) 和大鼠耳蝠 ( Myotis myotis)). 来自两种蝙蝠物种的 iPSC 显示出相似的特征，并且具有类似于被病毒攻击的细胞的基因表达谱。它们还具有大量内源性病毒序列，尤其是逆转录病毒。这些结果表明，蝙蝠已经进化出能够耐受大量病毒序列的机制，并且与病毒的关系可能比之前认为的更为复杂。对蝙蝠 iPSC 及其分化后代的进一步研究将为蝙蝠生物学、病毒宿主关系和蝙蝠特殊性状的分子基础提供见解。