biology

Malassezia vespertilionis

Malassezia vespertilionis is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Malassezia vespertilionis rather than just read about it. In short: Malassezia vespertilionis is a species of yeast-like fungus that grows on the skin of bats. It was described as a new species in 2018.

Key takeaways

Malassezia vespertilionis belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Malassezia vespertilionis to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Malassezia vespertilionis from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Malassezia vespertilionis is a species of yeast-like fungus that grows on the skin of bats. It was described as a new species in 2018. The holotype was obtained from a swab of wing skin of a hibernating northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) collected in Wisconsin. The species epithet vespertilionis uses the Latin vespertilio (bat) to refer to the host. Additional isolates were collected from various bat species in several locations in the United States – Alabama, California, Kentucky, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Other bat species that harbor the fungus are the California myotis (Myotis californicus), the fringed myotis (Myotis thysanodes), the Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis), the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus), the gray bat (Myotis grisescens), and the silver-haired bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans). The fungus appears to be fairly common on bats found in the United States, occurring in 28% of 264 individuals sampled.

Description When grown on Leeming and Notman agar (LNA), colonies of Malassezia vespertilionis are about 0.5–1.0 mm (0.02–0.04 in) in diameter after 10 days of growth at 24 °C (75 °F); this increases to about 2–5 mm (0.08–0.20 in) after 40 days. The fungus was able to grow at a variety of temperatures ranging from 7 to 40 °C (45 to 104 °F), but grew best at 24 °C (75 °F). The cells have an ellipsoid or ovoid shape (in rare instances they are spherical), ranging in size from 2–3 by 2–4 μm, although 2 by 3 μm is the usual size.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Malassezia vespertilionis

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Malassezia vespertilionis claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Malassezia vespertilionis before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Malassezia vespertilionis ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Malassezia vespertilionis

In research: Malassezia vespertilionis appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Malassezia vespertilionis in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Malassezia vespertilionis is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Fungi described in 2018, Fungi of the United States, Fungus species, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Malassezia vespertilionis outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Malassezia vespertilionis in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Malassezia vespertilionis means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Malassezia vespertilionis out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Malassezia vespertilionis in simple terms?

Malassezia vespertilionis is a species of yeast-like fungus that grows on the skin of bats. It was described as a new species in 2018.

Why does Malassezia vespertilionis matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Malassezia vespertilionis?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Malassezia vespertilionis.