Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Life Sciences Department, Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Barcelona, Spain.
mBio. 2022 Apr 26;13(2):e0385321. doi: 10.1128/mbio.03853-21. Epub 2022 Apr 11.
species are important fungal skin commensals and are part of the normal microbiota of humans and other animals. However, under certain circumstances these fungi can also display a pathogenic behavior. For example, is a common commensal of human skin and yet is often responsible for skin disorders but also systemic infections. Comparative genomics analysis of revealed that some isolates have a hybrid origin, similar to several other recently described hybrid fungal pathogens. Because hybrid species exhibit genomic plasticity that can impact phenotypes, we sought to elucidate the genomic evolution and phenotypic characteristics of hybrids in comparison to their parental lineages. To this end, we performed a comparative genomics analysis between hybrid strains and their presumptive parental lineages and assessed phenotypic characteristics. Our results provide evidence that at least two distinct hybridization events occurred between the same parental lineages and that the parental strains may have originally been hybrids themselves. Analysis of the mating-type locus reveals that has a pseudobipolar mating system and provides evidence that after sexual liaisons of mating compatible cells, hybridization involved cell-cell fusion leading to a diploid/aneuploid state. This study provides new insights into the evolutionary trajectory of and contributes with valuable genomic resources for future pathogenicity studies. is a common commensal member of human/animal microbiota that is also associated with several pathogenic states. Recent studies report involvement of species in Crohn's disease, a type of inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatic cancer progression, and exacerbation of cystic fibrosis. A recent genomics analysis of . revealed the existence of hybrid isolates and identified their putative parental lineages. In this study, we explored the genomic and phenotypic features of these hybrids in comparison to their putative parental lineages. Our results revealed the existence of a pseudobipolar mating system in this species and showed evidence for the occurrence of multiple hybridization events in the evolutionary trajectory of . These findings significantly advance our understanding of the evolution of this commensal microbe and are relevant for future studies exploring the role of hybridization in the adaptation to new niches or environments, including the emergence of pathogenicity.
种是重要的真菌皮肤共生体，是人类和其他动物正常微生物群的一部分。然而，在某些情况下，这些真菌也可能表现出致病性。例如，是人类皮肤的常见共生体，但它常常是皮肤疾病的原因，也是系统性感染的原因。对的比较基因组学分析表明，一些分离株具有杂种起源，类似于最近描述的几种其他杂种真菌病原体。由于杂种物种表现出影响表型的基因组可塑性，我们试图阐明与亲本谱系相比的杂种的基因组进化和表型特征。为此，我们对杂种菌株与其假定的亲本谱系之间进行了比较基因组学分析，并评估了表型特征。我们的研究结果提供了证据，证明至少发生了两次不同的杂交事件，发生在同一亲本谱系之间，而且亲本菌株本身可能最初就是杂种。交配型基因座的分析表明具有假二极交配系统，并提供证据表明，在交配相容细胞的性联系之后，杂交涉及细胞融合，导致二倍体/非整倍体状态。这项研究提供了对进化轨迹的新见解，并为未来的致病性研究提供了有价值的基因组资源。是人类/动物微生物群的常见共生成员，也与几种致病状态有关。最近的研究报告了物种参与克罗恩病、一种炎症性肠病、胰腺癌进展和囊性纤维化恶化。最近对的基因组分析表明存在杂种分离株，并确定了它们的假定亲本谱系。在这项研究中，我们比较了这些杂种与其假定亲本谱系的基因组和表型特征。我们的研究结果揭示了该物种中存在假二极交配系统，并为在该共生微生物的进化轨迹中发生多次杂交事件提供了证据。这些发现极大地促进了我们对这种共生微生物进化的理解，并且与未来探索杂交在适应新生态位或环境中的作用的研究相关，包括致病性的出现。
