TY - JOUR

T1 - Plastiphily is linked to generic virulence traits of important human pathogenic fungi

AU - Gkoutselis, Gerasimos

AU - Rohrbach, Stephan

AU - Harjes, Janno

AU - Brachmann, Andreas

AU - Horn, Marcus A.

AU - Rambold, Gerhard

N1 - Funding Information: This study was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) - SFB 1357-39197756; Subproject C04, and the Open Access Publishing Fund of the University of Bayreuth. We wish to thank Derek Peršoh (Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Earth Sciences, University of Bayreuth) for his help in the optimisation of sequence data processing, Stella Franca Rösch (Chair of Marketing and Innovation, University of Bayreuth) for her support in graphic formatting and Luca Söhnel (Dept. of Mycology, University of Bayreuth) for his assistance in the subsampling process. Gratitude is also dedicated to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) for providing the export permit (Phytosanitary certificate no. 207/2019), the Bayerische Landesanstalt für Landwirtschaft, Institut für Pflanzenschutz for issue of the import authorisation (IPS 4a-7322.451) and the ITCER e.V. ( https://itcer.org ) for on-site support. Funding Information: This study was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) - SFB 1357-39197756; Subproject C04, and the Open Access Publishing Fund of the University of Bayreuth. We wish to thank Derek Peršoh (Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Earth Sciences, University of Bayreuth) for his help in the optimisation of sequence data processing, Stella Franca Rösch (Chair of Marketing and Innovation, University of Bayreuth) for her support in graphic formatting and Luca Söhnel (Dept. of Mycology, University of Bayreuth) for his assistance in the subsampling process. Gratitude is also dedicated to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) for providing the export permit (Phytosanitary certificate no. 207/2019), the Bayerische Landesanstalt für Landwirtschaft, Institut für Pflanzenschutz for issue of the import authorisation (IPS 4a-7322.451) and the ITCER e.V. (https://itcer.org) for on-site support.

PY - 2024/1/25

Y1 - 2024/1/25

N2 - Fungi comprise relevant human pathogens, causing over a billion infections each year. Plastic pollution alters niches of fungi by providing trillions of artificial microhabitats, mostly in the form of microplastics, where pathogens might accumulate, thrive, and evolve. However, interactions between fungi and microplastics in nature are largely unexplored. To address this knowledge gap, we investigated the assembly, architecture, and ecology of mycobiomes in soil (micro)plastispheres near human dwellings in a model- and network-based metagenome study combined with a global-scale trait data annotation. Our results reveal a strong selection of important human pathogens, in an idiosyncratic, otherwise predominantly neutrally assembled plastisphere, which is strongly linked to generic fungal virulence traits. These findings substantiate our niche expansion postulate, demonstrate the emergence of plastiphily among fungal pathogens and imply the existence of a plastisphere virulence school, underpinning the need to declare microplastics as a factor of global health.

AB - Fungi comprise relevant human pathogens, causing over a billion infections each year. Plastic pollution alters niches of fungi by providing trillions of artificial microhabitats, mostly in the form of microplastics, where pathogens might accumulate, thrive, and evolve. However, interactions between fungi and microplastics in nature are largely unexplored. To address this knowledge gap, we investigated the assembly, architecture, and ecology of mycobiomes in soil (micro)plastispheres near human dwellings in a model- and network-based metagenome study combined with a global-scale trait data annotation. Our results reveal a strong selection of important human pathogens, in an idiosyncratic, otherwise predominantly neutrally assembled plastisphere, which is strongly linked to generic fungal virulence traits. These findings substantiate our niche expansion postulate, demonstrate the emergence of plastiphily among fungal pathogens and imply the existence of a plastisphere virulence school, underpinning the need to declare microplastics as a factor of global health.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85183042856&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/s43247-023-01127-3

DO - 10.1038/s43247-023-01127-3

M3 - Article

VL - 5

JO - Communications Earth and Environment

JF - Communications Earth and Environment

M1 - 51

ER -