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

authored by

Gerasimos Gkoutselis, Stephan Rohrbach, Janno Harjes, Andreas Brachmann, Marcus A. Horn, Gerhard Rambold

Abstract

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.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Microbiology

External Organisation(s)

University of Bayreuth
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU)

Type

Article

Journal

Communications Earth and Environment

Volume

5

Publication date

25.01.2024

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Environmental Science(all), Earth and Planetary Sciences(all)

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-01127-3 (Access: Open)