Biology Commons^™

Identification Of Differentially Recognized T Cell Epitopes In The Spectrum Of Tuberculosis Infection, Sudhasini Panda, Jeffrey Morgan, Catherine Cheng, Mayuko Saito, Robert H. Gilman, Nelly Ciobanu, Valeriu Crudu, Donald G. Cantazaro, Antonino Cantazaro, Timothy Rodwell, Judy S.B. Perera, Teshan Chathuranga, Bandu Gunasena, Aruna D. Desilva, Bjoern Peters, Alessandro Sette, Cecilia S. Linderstam Arlehamn

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

There is still incomplete knowledge of which Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) antigens can trigger distinct T cell responses at different stages of infection. Here, a proteome-wide screen of 20,610 Mtb-derived peptides in 21 patients mid-treatment for active tuberculosis (ATB) reveals IFNγ-specific T cell responses against 137 unique epitopes. Of these, 16% are recognized by two or more participants and predominantly derived from cell wall and cell processes antigens. There is differential recognition of antigens, including TB vaccine candidate antigens, between ATB participants and interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA + /−) individuals. We developed an ATB-specific peptide pool (ATB116) consisting of epitopes exclusively …

Turtle Species And Ecology Drive Carapace Microbiome Diversity In Three Seasonally Interconnected Wetland Habitats, Matthew Parks, Jun Sheng Lee, Kassandra Camua, Ethan Hollender

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Different species of freshwater turtles exhibit primary behaviours ranging from aerial basking to benthic bottom-walking, cycle between wet and dry conditions at different time intervals, and undertake short-distance overland movements between aquatic habitats. These behaviours in turn may impact the accumulation of microbes on external shell surfaces of turtles and provide novel niches for differentiation of microbial communities. We assessed microbial diversity using 16S and 18S rRNA metabarcoding on carapace surfaces of six species of freshwater turtles residing in three adjacent and seasonally interconnected wetland habitats in southeast Oklahoma (United States). Communities were highly diverse, with nearly 4200 prokaryotic and …

Dna Barcoding Reveals A New Population Of The Threatened Atlantic Forest Frog Sphaenorhynchus Canga, Diego J. Santana, Andre Yves, Elvis A. Pereira, Priscila S. Carvalho, Lucio M. C. Lima, Henrique C. Costa, Don Shepard

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Species identification plays a significant role in biodiversity conservation. As many species remain unrecognized, particularly in neotropical hotspots like the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (AF), novel molecular techniques are being widely employed to bridge this gap. In this study, we used DNA barcoding and phylogenetic tools to identify a new population of Sphaenorynchus canga in the central region of the Brazilian AF. Our results extend the species’ known distribution by approximately 200 km to the south, encompassing a different mountain range than its type locality (Serra do Espinhaço). This disjunct distribution, while not uncommon among amphibians, suggests a historical connection between …

Myxomycetes Of Subantarctic Macquarie Island, Steven L. Stephenson

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

An expedition to subantarctic Macquarie Island was carried out during the period of late January to early May of 1995 with the objective of documenting myxomycete biodiversity. Collecting on the island yielded 412 field collections, with another 14 collections were obtained with the use of the moist chamber culture technique. A total of twenty-six species representing 13 genera was recorded. This is the largest set of data yet available on the myxomycetes associated with any high-latitude area of the Southern Hemisphere. Prior to the expedition, only a single species was known from Macquarie Island. The purpose of this paper is …

Interactions Between Fitness Components Across The Life Cycle Constrain Competitor Coexistence, Miguel Gómez-Llano, Wade A. Boys, Taylor Ping, Simon P. Tye, Adam M. Siepielski

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

1. Numerous mechanisms can promote competitor coexistence. Yet, these mechanisms are often considered in isolation from one another. Consequently, whether multiple mechanisms shaping coexistence combine to promote or constrain species coexistence remains an open question.
2. Here, we aim to understand how multiple mechanisms interact within and between life stages to determine frequency-dependent population growth, which has a key role stabilizing local competitor coexistence.
3. We conducted field experiments in three lakes manipulating relative frequencies of two Enallagma damselfly species to evaluate demographic contributions of three mechanisms affecting different fitness components across the life cycle: the effect of resource competition on individual growth …

Effects Of Seasonal Environment On Abundance, Behavior, Visual Signaling, And Perception In Prairie Butterflies, Grace Elizabeth Hirzel

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Phenotypic plasticity is a widespread mechanism that allows animals to respond quickly to seasonal changes in their environment. However, the depth and complexity of these plastic responses is still being discovered. One aspect of seasonal physiology that is relatively unstudied is changes to sensory physiology and how it may explain changes in behavior. To determine how changes in seasonal conditions affect behavior, coloration, and vision, I examined populations of wild butterflies in Northwest Arkansas. Focusing on a single species, the common buckeye Junonia coenia, I found that seasonal coloration covaries with thermoregulating behavior and is accompanied by changes in visual …

Effects Of Landcover On Mesocarnivore Density And Detection Rate Along An Urban To Rural Gradient, Leah E. Mctigue, Brett Degregorio

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Human development has major implications for wildlife populations. Urban-exploiter species can benefit from human subsidized resources, whereas urban-avoider species can vanish from wildlife communities in highly developed areas. Therefore, understanding how the density of different species varies in response to landcover changes associated with human development can provide important insight into how wildlife communities are likely to change and provide a starting point for predicting the consequences of those changes. Here, we estimated the population density of five common mesocarnivore species (coyote (Canis latrans), bobcat (Lynx rufus), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), raccoon (Procyon …

Exploring The Interrelationships Among Structural Complexity, Multi-Trophic Biodiversity, And Ecosystem Productivity In Forested Ecosystems., Ayanna St. Rose

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Forests play a pivotal role in sustaining global biodiversity and mitigating the global climate, as they serve as the primary refuge for terrestrial biodiversity and effectively capture and store atmospheric carbon dioxide. However, changing climate and land use are altering the geographic distribution, physical structure, and productivity of forested ecosystems that can have profound impacts on biodiversity conservation, forest productivity, and global climate. This dissertation contributes to our understanding of multifaceted interactions between the physical and biological structural complexity and ecosystem functions in forested landscapes across the United states by using openly available data from two national networks: the National …

Human-Bat Interactions In A Disease Emergence Hotspot: Implications For Human Health And Bat Conservation, Reilly Tempest Jackson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bats are an ecologically important taxon that can host zoonotic pathogens. Globally, many bat species are synanthropic and live closely with humans, often roosting in man-made structures. The spatial overlap between humans and bats creates opportunities for human-bat contact, which can lead to human exposure to bat-borne pathogens and conflicts that cause bat mortality. Despite this risk, little is known about the drivers and characteristics of these human-bat interactions in buildings and work is needed to understand this aspect of the wildlife-urban interface. In Chapter I, I present a literature review that identifies the geographic and taxonomic trends in reported …

The Evolutionary Responses Of Life-History Strategies To Climatic Variability In Flowering Plants, James Boyko, Eric R. Hagen, Jeremy M. Beaulieu, Thais Vasconcelos

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

• The evolution of annual or perennial strategies in flowering plants likely depends on a broad array of temperature and precipitation variables. Previous documented climate life-history correlations in explicit phylogenetic frameworks have been limited to certain clades and geographic regions.
• To gain insights which generalize to multiple lineages we employ a multi-clade approach analyzing 32 groups of angiosperms across eight climatic variables. We utilize a recently developed method that accounts for the joint evolution of continuous and discrete traits to evaluate two hypotheses: annuals tend to evolve in highly seasonal regions prone to extreme heat and drought; and annuals tend to …

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Derived From Patients Carrying Mitochondrial Mutations Exhibit Altered Bioenergetics And Aberrant Differentiation Potential, Fibi Meshrkey, Kelly M. Scheulin, Christopher M. Littlejohn, Joshua Stabach, Bibhuti Saikia, Vedant Thorat, Yimin Huang, Thomas Laframboise, Edward J. Lesnefsky, Raj R. Rao, Franklin D. West, Shilpa Iyer

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background

Human mitochondrial DNA mutations are associated with common to rare mitochondrial disorders, which are multisystemic with complex clinical pathologies. The pathologies of these diseases are poorly understood and have no FDA-approved treatments leading to symptom management. Leigh syndrome (LS) is a pediatric mitochondrial disorder that affects the central nervous system during early development and causes death in infancy. Since there are no adequate models for understanding the rapid fatality associated with LS, human-induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) technology has been recognized as a useful approach to generate patient-specific stem cells for disease modeling and understanding the origins of the …

Coordinated Regulation Of Myonuclear Dna Methylation, Mrna, And Mirna Levels Associates With The Metabolic Response To Rapid Synergist Ablation-Induced Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy In Female Mice, Ahmed Ismaeel, Nicholas T. Thomas, Mariah Mccashland, Sebastian Edman, Johanna T. Lanner, Vandré C. Figueiredo, Christopher S. Fry, John J. Mccarthy, Yuan Wen, Kevin A. Murach, Ferdinand Von Walden

Health, Human Performance and Recreation Faculty Publications and Presentations

The central dogma of molecular biology dictates the general flow of molecular information from DNA that leads to a functional cellular outcome. In skeletal muscle fibers, the extent to which global myonuclear transcriptional alterations, accounting for epigenetic and post-transcriptional influences, contribute to an adaptive stress response is not clearly defined. In this investigation, we leveraged an integrated analysis of the myonucleus-specific DNA methylome and transcriptome, as well as myonuclear small RNA profiling to molecularly define the early phase of skeletal muscle fiber hypertrophy. The analysis of myonucleus-specific mature microRNA and other small RNA species provides new directions for exploring muscle …

The Effects Of Landscape And Yard Features On Mammal Diversity In Residential Yards Within Northwest Arkansas, Usa, Emily P. Johansson, Brett A. Degregorio

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The human footprint is rapidly expanding, and wildlife habitat is continuously being converted to human residential properties. Surviving wildlife that reside in developing areas are displaced to nearby undeveloped areas. However, some animals can co-exist with humans and acquire the necessary resources (food, water, shelter) within the human environment. This ability to coexist may be particularly true when development is low intensity, as in residential suburban yards. Yards are individually managed “greenspaces” that can provide a range of food (e.g., bird feeders, compost, gardens), water (bird baths and garden ponds), and shelter (e.g., brush-piles, outbuildings) resources and are surrounded by …

The Himalayan Uplift And Evolution Of Aquatic Biodiversity Across Asia: Snowtrout (Cyprininae: Schizothorax) As A Test Case, Binod Regmi, Marlis R. Douglas, Karma Wangchuk, Zachery D. Zbinden, David R. Edds, Singye Tshering, Michael E. Douglas

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Global biodiversity hotspots are often remote, tectonically active areas undergoing climatic fluctuations, such as the Himalaya Mountains and neighboring Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP). They provide biogeographic templates upon which endemic biodiversity can be mapped to infer diversification scenarios. Yet, this process can be somewhat opaque for the Himalaya, given substantial data gaps separating eastern and western regions. To help clarify, we evaluated phylogeographic and phylogenetic hypotheses for a widespread fish (Snowtrout: Cyprininae; Schizothorax) by sequencing 1,140 base pair of mtDNA cytochrome-b (cytb) from Central Himalaya samples (Nepal: N = 53; Bhutan: N = 19), augmented with 68 GenBank …

Genome-Wide Association Study And Genomic Prediction Of Fusarium Wilt Resistance In Common Bean Core Collection, Kenani Chiwina, Haizheng Xiong, Gehendra Bhattarai, Ryan Dickson, Theresa Makawa Phiri, Yilin Chen, Ibtisam Alatawi, Derek Dean, Neelendra K. Joshi, Yuyan Chen, Awais Riaz, Paul Gepts, Mark Brick, Patrick Byrne, Howard Schwartz, James B. Ogg, Kristen Otto, Amy Fall, Jeremy Gilbert, Ainong Shi

Horticulture Faculty Publications and Presentations

The common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is a globally cultivated leguminous crop. Fusarium wilt (FW), caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. phaseoli (Fop), is a significant disease leading to substantial yield loss in common beans. Disease-resistant cultivars are recommended to counteract this. The objective of this investigation was to identify single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers associated with FW resistance and to pinpoint potential resistant common bean accessions within a core collection, utilizing a panel of 157 accessions through the Genome-wide association study (GWAS) approach with TASSEL 5 and GAPIT 3. Phenotypes for Fop race 1 and race …

Predicting Stringent Quantiferon-Tb Gold Plus Conversions In Contacts Of Tuberculosis Patients, Sheng-Wei Pan, Donald G. Catanzaro, Marva Seifert, Rehan Syed, Naomi Hillery, Mei-Lin Ho, Valeriu Crudu, Elena Tudor, Nelly Ciobanu, Alexandru Codreanu, Antonino Catanzaro, Timonthy C. Rodwell

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objectives

Methods

Results

Roost Selection By Synanthropic Bats In Rural Kenya: Implications For Human-Wildlife Conflict And Zoonotic Pathogen Spillover, Reilly T. Jackson, Paul W. Webala, Joseph G. Ogola, Tamika J. Lunn, Kristian M. Forbes

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Many wildlife species are synanthropic and use structures built by humans, creating a high-risk interface for human–wildlife conflict and zoonotic pathogen spillover. However, studies that investigate features of urbanizing areas that attract or repel wildlife are currently lacking. We surveyed 85 buildings used by bats and 172 neighbouring buildings unused by bats (controls) in southeastern Kenya during 2021 and 2022 and evaluated the role of microclimate and structural attributes in building selection. We identified eight bat species using buildings, with over 25% of building roosts used concurrently by multiple species. Bats selected taller cement-walled buildings with higher water vapour pressure …

Past And Ongoing Field-Based Studies Of Myxomycetes, Steven L. Stephenson

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Evidence from molecular studies indicates that myxomycetes (also called myxogastrids or plasmodial slime molds) have a long evolutionary history, and the oldest known fossil is from the mid-Cretaceous. However, they were not “discovered” until 1654, when a brief description and a woodcut depicting what is almost certainly the common species Lycogala epidendrum was published. First thought to be fungi, myxomycetes were not universally recognized as completely distinct until well into the twentieth century. Biodiversity surveys for the group being carried out over several years are relatively recent, with what is apparently the first example being carried out in the 1930s. …

Effects Of Measurement Methods And Growing Conditions On Phenotypic Expression Of Photosynthesis In Seven Diverse Rice Genotypes, Megan Reavis, Larry C. Purcell, Andy Pereira, Kusum Naithani

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduction: Light response curves are widely used to quantify phenotypic expression of photosynthesis by measuring a single sample and sequentially altering light intensity within a chamber (sequential method) or by measuring different samples that are each acclimated to a different light level (non-sequential method). Both methods are often conducted in controlled environments to achieve steady-state results, and neither method involves equilibrating the entire plant to the specific light level.

Methods: Here, we compare sequential and non-sequential methods in controlled (greenhouse), semi-controlled (plant grown in growth chamber and acclimated to field conditions 2-3 days before measurements), and field environments. We selected …

The Minimal Suf System Is Not Required For Fe–S Cluster Biogenesis In The Methanogenic Archaeon Methanosarcina Acetivorans, Jasleen Saini, Thomas M. Deere, Daniel J. Lessner

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Iron–sulfur (Fe–S) proteins are essential for the ability of methanogens to carry out methanogenesis and biological nitrogen fixation (diazotrophy). Nonetheless, the factors involved in Fe–S cluster biogenesis in methanogens remain largely unknown. The minimal SUF Fe–S cluster biogenesis system (i.e., SufBC) is postulated to serve as the primary system in methanogens. Here, the role of SufBC in Methanosarcina acetivorans, which contains two sufCB gene clusters, was investigated. The CRISPRi-dCas9 and CRISPR-Cas9 systems were utilized to repress or delete sufC1B1 and sufC2B2, respectively. Neither the dual repression of sufC1B1 and sufC2B2 nor the deletion of both sufC1B1 and sufC2B2 …

Guar-Based Injectable Hydrogel For Drug Delivery And In Vitro Bone Cell Growth, Humandra Poudel, Ambar R. Rangumagar, Pooja Singh, Adeolu Oluremi, Nawab Ali, Fumiya Watanabe, Joseph Batta-Mpouma, Jin-Woo Kim, Ahona Ghosh, Anindya Ghosh

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Injectable hydrogels offer numerous advantages in various areas, which include tissue engineering and drug delivery because of their unique properties such as tunability, excellent carrier properties, and biocompatibility. These hydrogels can be administered with minimal invasiveness. In this study, we synthesized an injectable hydrogel by rehydrating lyophilized mixtures of guar adamantane (Guar-ADI) and poly-β-cyclodextrin (p-βCD) in a solution of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) maintained at pH 7.4. The hydrogel was formed via host-guest interaction between modified guar (Guar-ADI), obtained by reacting guar gum with 1-adamantyl isocyanate (ADI) and p-βCD. Comprehensive characterization of all synthesized materials, including the hydrogel, was performed using …

Understanding The Environmental And Genetic Influence On Fluctuating Asymmetry And Developmental Instability In Primates, Ashly N. Romero

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explored the impact of environmental factors on the development and perpetuation of fluctuating asymmetry (FA) and sought to understand the role evolution may play in the FA exhibited in two primate populations: the free-ranging Cayo Santiago rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) and the Southwest National Primate Research Center olive baboons (Papio hamadryas anubis). Demographic, ontogenetic, secular, external, and genetic factors were examined. Specifically, this dissertation investigated FA over all ontogenetic stages, across decades, between sexes, in association with ecological catastrophes, and with tooth pathology to try and tease apart factors that may influence FA and developmental instability. This dissertation …

Functional Morphology Of The Platyrrhine Humerus And Talus: Implications For Inferring Locomotor Behavior In Extinct Primates, Liam Michael Zachary

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Platyrrhines are a diverse radiation of primates that exhibit a range of locomotor adaptations. The relationships between extant primate locomotor behavior and variation in postcranial morphology are often used to make functional interpretations of skeletal anatomy in extinct primates. However, a comparative baseline of form-function relationships in the extant platyrrhine postcranium is lacking compared to other primates, which limits understanding of platyrrhine locomotor evolution. The humerus and talus are two of the best represented skeletal elements in the platyrrhine fossil record and are informative of locomotor behavior. Therefore, quantification of morphological variation in extant platyrrhine tali and humeri can provide …

Occupancy And Activity Patterns Of Nine-Banded Armadillos (Dasypus Novemcinctus) In A Suburban Environment, Brett Degregorio, Matthew R. Mcelroy, Emily P. Johansson

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The geographic range of the nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) has rapidly been expanding within the United States for the last 150 years. One of the factors contributing to this astounding range expansion is the species’ ability to survive in and colonize human-dominated areas. Despite the fact that armadillos live alongside humans in numerous towns and cities across the Southeastern, Southcentral, and now Midwestern United States, we know relatively little about the behavior and ecology of armadillos in human-developed areas. Here, we used motion-triggered game cameras in over 115 residential yards in the rapidly developing Northwest corner of Arkansas …

Shedding In The Timber Rattlesnake: Natural Patterns, Endocrinological Underpinnings, Temporal And Energetic Effort, And Integration As A Reptilian Life History Trait, Maxwell D. Carnes-Mason

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The semi-frequent replacement of the epidermis (ecdysis) is a characteristic trait of reptiles. Whereas all reptiles regularly engage in some degree of skin shedding, skin morphology in snakes necessitates the synchronous replacement of the entire epidermis and facilitates the subsequent removal of the old layer as a single sheet. To date, the ubiquitous process has garnered little attention from researchers because snakes shed with unpredictable timing and frequency and are exceedingly cryptic during ecdytic cycles; previously impeding detailed physiological or ecological investigations of the process in the clade. Because of the lack of study, ecdysis is often viewed as a …

The Influence Of Climate And Landscape On Allocapnia Mohri Distribution In Arkansas, Brianna Leigh Annaratone

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Stoneflies are a globally threatened aquatic insect order. In Arkansas, a diverse group of winter stonefly (Capniidae: Allocapnia) have not been surveyed since the 1980s, likely because species-level identification requires the rarely-collected adult form. Allocapnia mohri, a regional endemic, was previously commonly found in mountainous, intermittent streams from the Ouachita Mountains ecoregion north to the Ozark Highlands, but no species distributional models including land use or climate variables exist to our knowledge. We collected adults from 70 stream reaches from the historic Arkansas range from November to April 2020 and 2021. We modeled distributions using random forest (RF) models populated …

Modeling The Egyptian Goose (Alopochen Aegyptiaca) Invasion; And Future Concerns, Percival Matzinger Marshall

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In an increasingly interconnected world, the ecological and financial cost of invasive species is expected to continue to climb through the movement of exotic biota. Understanding the driving forces behind how a species invades, what environments promote their establishment, and what impacts they are likely to have on the invaded environment are all critical for management. Waterfowl, order Anseriformes, are one such category of invasive species of concern due to their popularity of accidental introduction, ease of movement, and propensity to affect both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca) is a native to the African continent that …

Striped Expression Of Leucine-Rich Repeat Proteins Coordinates Cell Intercalation And Compartment Boundary Formation In The Early Drosophila Embryo, Chloe A. Kuebler, Adam C. Pare

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Planar polarity is a commonly observed phenomenon in which proteins display a consistent asymmetry in their subcellular localization or activity across the plane of a tissue. During animal development, planar polarity is a fundamental mechanism for coordinating the behaviors of groups of cells to achieve anisotropic tissue remodeling, growth, and organization. Therefore, a primary focus of developmental biology research has been to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying planar polarity in a variety of systems to identify conserved principles of tissue organization. In the early Drosophila embryo, the germband neuroectoderm epithelium rapidly doubles in length along the anterior-posterior axis through a …

Er Translocon Inhibitor Ipomoeassin F Inhibits Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Growth Via Blocking Er Molecular Chaperones, Shishi Tao, Eun Ju Yang, Guanghui Zong, Pui Kei Mou, Guowen Ren, Liang Chen, Ho Jeong Kwon, Jianhong Zhou, Zhijian Hu, Arman Khosravi, Qingyang Zhang, Yuchun Du, Wei Q. Shi, Joong Sup Shim

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive type of breast cancer where no effective therapy has been developed. Here, we report that the natural product ER translocon inhibitor ipomoeassin F is a selective inhibitor of TNBC cell growth. A proteomic analysis of TNBC cells revealed that ipomoeassin F significantly reduced the levels of ER molecular chaperones, including PDIA6 and PDIA4, and induced ER stress, unfolded protein response (UPR) and autophagy in TNBC cells. Mechanistically, ipomoeassin F, as an inhibitor of Sec61α-containing ER translocon, blocks ER translocation of PDIA6, inducing its proteasomal degradation. Silencing of PDIA6 or PDIA4 by RNA interferences …

Movement Patterns Of Two Bat Species Active During Winter In The Southeastern United States, Reilly T. Jackson, Emma V. Wilcox, Riley F. Bernard

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

During winter in the southeastern United States, cavernicolous bats, many species of which are susceptible to white-nose syndrome, periodically arouse from torpor and occasionally leave hibernacula. We investigated the winter movements and habitat use of two bat species persisting during the white-nose syndrome epizootic: the gray bat Myotis grisescens and the eastern small-footed bat Myotis leibii. We deployed very-high-frequency radio transmitters on individual bats captured outside hibernacula to investigate activity, which may include foraging, during winter. We tracked bats from release at the cave entrance until their transmitter signal was lost or they remained stationary for 15 min or …