Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology and Institute of Integrative Genome Biology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA.
G3 (Bethesda). 2023 Aug 9;13(8). doi: 10.1093/g3journal/jkad126.
Individuals with cystic fibrosis (CF) are susceptible to chronic lung infections that lead to inflammation and irreversible lung damage. While most respiratory infections that occur in CF are caused by bacteria, some are dominated by fungi such as the slow-growing black yeast Exophiala dermatitidis. Here, we analyze isolates of E. dermatitidis cultured from two samples, collected from a single subject 2 years apart. One isolate genome was sequenced using long-read Nanopore technology as an in-population reference to use in comparative single nucleotide polymorphism and insertion-deletion variant analyses of 23 isolates. We then used population genomics and phylo-genomics to compare the isolates to each other as well as the reference genome strain E. dermatitidis NIH/UT8656. Within the CF lung population, three E. dermatitidis clades were detected, each with varying mutation rates. Overall, the isolates were highly similar suggesting that they were recently diverged. All isolates were MAT 1-1, which was consistent with their high relatedness and the absence of evidence for mating or recombination between isolates. Phylogenetic analysis grouped sets of isolates into clades that contained isolates from both early and late time points indicating there are multiple persistent lineages. Functional assessment of variants unique to each clade identified alleles in genes that encode transporters, cytochrome P450 oxidoreductases, iron acquisition, and DNA repair processes. Consistent with the genomic heterogeneity, isolates showed some stable phenotype heterogeneity in melanin production, subtle differences in antifungal minimum inhibitory concentrations, and growth on different substrates. The persistent population heterogeneity identified in lung-derived isolates is an important factor to consider in the study of chronic fungal infections, and the analysis of changes in fungal pathogens over time may provide important insights into the physiology of black yeasts and other slow-growing fungi in vivo.
个体患有囊性纤维化(CF)易受慢性肺部感染,导致炎症和不可逆转的肺部损伤。虽然 CF 中发生的大多数呼吸道感染是由细菌引起的,但有些则由真菌引起,如生长缓慢的黑酵母皮炎外瓶霉。在这里,我们分析了从一名患者 2 年前收集的两个样本中培养的 E. dermatitidis 分离株。一个分离株的基因组使用长读长 Nanopore 技术进行测序,作为群体内参考,用于对 23 个分离株进行比较单核苷酸多态性和插入缺失变体分析。然后,我们使用群体基因组学和系统发育基因组学将分离株相互比较,以及参考基因组菌株 E. dermatitidis NIH/UT8656。在 CF 肺部人群中,检测到三个 E. dermatitidis 进化枝,每个进化枝的突变率不同。总体而言,分离株高度相似,表明它们是最近分化的。所有分离株均为 MAT 1-1,这与其高度相关性一致,并且没有证据表明分离株之间存在交配或重组。系统发育分析将一组分离株分为包含早期和晚期时间点分离株的进化枝,表明存在多个持续性谱系。对每个进化枝特有的变体进行功能评估,鉴定了编码转运蛋白、细胞色素 P450 氧化还原酶、铁获取和 DNA 修复过程的基因中的等位基因。与基因组异质性一致,分离株在黑色素产生、抗真菌最小抑菌浓度的细微差异和不同底物上的生长方面表现出一些稳定的表型异质性。在肺部衍生分离株中鉴定到的持续性群体异质性是研究慢性真菌感染时需要考虑的一个重要因素,对真菌病原体随时间变化的分析可能为体内黑酵母和其他生长缓慢的真菌的生理学提供重要见解。
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