SummaryFungi of the genus Aspergillus are widespread in the environment. Some Aspergillus species, most commonly Aspergillus fumigatus, may lead to a variety of allergic reactions and life‐threatening systemic infections in humans. Invasive aspergillosis occurs primarily in patients with severe immunodeficiency, and has dramatically increased in recent years. There are several factors at play that contribute to aspergillosis, including both fungus and host‐related factors such as strain virulence and host pulmonary structure/immune status, respectively. The environmental tenacity of Aspergilllus, its dominance in diverse microbial communities/habitats, and its ability to navigate the ecophysiological and biophysical challenges of host infection are attributable, in large part, to a robust stress‐tolerance biology and exceptional capacity to generate cell‐available energy. Aspects of its stress metabolism, ecology, interactions with diverse animal hosts, clinical presentations and treatment regimens have been well‐studied over the past years. Here, we synthesize these findings in relation to the way in which some Aspergillus species have become successful opportunistic pathogens of human‐ and other animal hosts. We focus on the biophysical capabilities of Aspergillus pathogens, key aspects of their ecophysiology and the flexibility to undergo a sexual cycle or form cryptic species. Additionally, recent advances in diagnosis of the disease are discussed as well as implications in relation to questions that have yet to be resolved.
Floral nectar of some animal-pollinated plants usually harbours highly adapted yeast communities which can profoundly alter nectar characteristics and, therefore, potentially have significant impacts on plant reproduction through their effects on insect foraging behaviour. Bacteria have also been occasionally observed in floral nectar, but their prevalence, phylogenetic diversity and ecological role within plant-pollinator-yeast systems remains unclear. Here we present the first reported survey of bacteria in floral nectar from a natural plant community. Culturable bacteria occurring in a total of 71 nectar samples collected from 27 South African plant species were isolated and identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Rarefaction-based analyses were used to assess operational taxonomic units (OTUs) richness at the plant community level using nectar drops as sampling units. Our results showed that bacteria are common inhabitants of floral nectar of South African plants (53.5% of samples yielded growth), and their communities are characterized by low species richness (18 OTUs at a 16S rRNA gene sequence dissimilarity cut-off of 3%) and moderate phylogenetic diversity, with most isolates belonging to the Gammaproteobacteria. Furthermore, isolates showed osmotolerance, catalase activity and the ability to grow under microaerobiosis, three traits that might help bacteria to overcome important factors limiting their survival and/or growth in nectar.
The recent upsurge of interest in the role of floral nectar as a habitat for microorganisms has led to some detailed analyses of nectarivorous yeasts. In contrast, very little is known on the occurrence and diversity of nectar-dwelling bacteria, and bacterial-fungal interactions within nectar remain unexplored. In this work, we studied both the culturable bacteria and microfungi found in the floral nectar of wild Mediterranean plants. In general, bacteria and yeasts were found coexisting in nectar more often than would be expected by chance, and such positive association persisted after accounting for phylogenetic nonindependence of the plant species surveyed. Metschnikowia species were confirmed as the main fungal components of nectar communities, and Acinetobacter was identified as the main bacterial taxa. Finally, individual Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) were found to co-occur less frequently than predicted by random expectations. There existed, however, some pairwise associations between OTUs that seemed to account for the general pattern of positive bacteria-yeasts coexistence. We conclude that the culturable communities of nectar microorganisms associated with wild Mediterranean plants are nonrandom assemblages of bacterial and yeast species.
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