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Fungal plastiphily and its link to generic virulence traits makes environmental microplastics a global health factor
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This meta-analysis reveals that microplastics in soil serve as hotspots where disease-causing fungi accumulate and thrive. The findings are concerning because many of the fungi that colonize microplastics share traits with human pathogens, suggesting that plastic pollution may be creating new breeding grounds for infectious disease in the environment.
Fungi comprise significant 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 meta-analysis. 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.
More Papers Like This
Fungal plastiphily and its link to generic virulence traits makes environmental microplastics a global health factor
AI summary Read the abstract
This meta-analysis reveals that fungi, including species that cause human infections, are attracted to microplastics in the environment. Microplastics provide tiny habitats where disease-causing fungi can accumulate and potentially evolve, suggesting that the trillions of microplastic particles in our environment may be increasing our exposure to fungal pathogens.
Plastiphily is linked to generic virulence traits of important human pathogenic fungi
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A study of soil near human dwellings found that microplastics selectively attract and concentrate dangerous fungal pathogens, including species that cause serious human infections. The microplastic surfaces essentially act as tiny habitats where disease-causing fungi accumulate and may develop enhanced survival traits. This suggests that the trillions of microplastic particles in soil could be amplifying the spread of fungal infections, adding a new dimension to microplastic health risks.
Plastiphily and its link to generic virulence in fungal human pathogens makes microplastics a global health factor
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Researchers applied neutral community models and co-occurrence network analysis to ITS metabarcoding data from soil fungal communities on microplastics collected from plastic pollution hotspots in Kenya, identifying both deterministic and stochastic processes structuring the plastisphere mycobiome. By linking a selection index to trait data including generic virulence scores, the study found correlations between plastiphilic adaptation and fungal pathogen virulence, implicating microplastics as a potential driver of pathogen ecology.
Terrestrial plastisphere as unique niches for fungal communities
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Researchers used 125 laboratory experiments to compare the fungi living on microplastics versus nearby soil, finding that microplastic surfaces host distinct fungal communities enriched in Penicillium and the potentially harmful pathogen Alternaria. These "plastisphere" fungal communities were less shaped by environmental conditions than soil communities, suggesting microplastics may create isolated niches that concentrate certain fungi and potentially reduce local biodiversity.
Microplastics accumulate fungal pathogens in terrestrial ecosystems
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Microplastics in terrestrial ecosystems serve as selective microhabitats that accumulate distinct fungal communities, including opportunistic human pathogens such as cryptococcal and Phoma-like species, making plastic waste a persistent reservoir and potential vector for fungal infections in soil environments.
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