Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA.
Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, USA.
mSphere. 2024 Nov 21;9(11):e0065824. doi: 10.1128/msphere.00658-24. Epub 2024 Oct 30.
The impacts of global climate change on dryland fungi have been understudied even though fungi are extremely sensitive to changes in the environment. Considering that many fungi are pathogens of plants and animals, including humans, their responses to anthropogenic change could have important implications for public health and food security. In this study, we investigated the potential physiological responses (i.e., metatranscriptomics) of pathogenicity and stress in dryland fungi exposed to global change drivers, drought, and the physical disturbance associated with land use. Specifically, we wanted to assess if there was an increase in the transcription of genes associated to pathogenicity and stress in response to global change drivers. In addition, we wanted to investigate which pathogenicity and stress genes were consistently differentially expressed under the different global change conditions across the heterogeneous landscape (i.e., microsite) of the Chihuahuan desert. We observed increased transcription of pathogenicity and stress genes, with specific genes being most upregulated in response to global change drivers. Additionally, climatic conditions linked to different microsites, such as those found under patches of vegetation, may play a significant role. We provide evidence supporting the idea that environmental stress caused by global change could contribute to an increase of pathogenicity as global climate changes. Specifically, increases in the transcription of stress and virulence genes, coupled with variations in gene expression, could lead to the onset of pathogenicity. Our work underscores the importance of studying dryland fungi exposed to global climate change and increases in existing fungal pathogens, as well as the emergence of new fungal pathogens, and consequences to public health and food security.
The effects of global climate change on dryland fungi and consequences to our society have been understudied despite evidence showing that pathogenic fungi increase in abundance under global climate change. Moreover, there is a growing concern that global climate change will contribute to the emergence of new fungal pathogens. Yet, we do not understand what mechanisms might be driving this increase in virulence and the onset of pathogenicity. In this study, we investigate how fungi respond to global change drivers, physical disturbance, and drought, in a dryland ecosystem in terms of pathogenicity and stress. We find that indeed, under global change drivers, there is an increase in the transcription and expression of genes associated to pathogenicity and stress, but that microclimatic conditions matter. Our study shows the importance of investigating dryland fungi exposed to global climate change and impacts on our society, which may include threats to public health and food security.
尽管真菌对环境变化极其敏感，但对全球气候变化对旱地真菌的影响的研究仍很不足。考虑到许多真菌是动植物（包括人类）病原体，它们对人为变化的反应可能对公共卫生和粮食安全产生重要影响。在这项研究中，我们调查了暴露于全球变化驱动因素（干旱和与土地利用有关的物理干扰）下的致病性和胁迫的潜在生理反应（即宏转录组学）。具体而言，我们想评估在全球变化驱动因素的作用下，与致病性和胁迫相关的基因转录是否增加。此外，我们还想调查在不同的全球变化条件下，哪些致病性和胁迫基因在异质景观（即奇瓦瓦沙漠的微生境）中始终表现出不同的表达。我们观察到致病性和胁迫基因的转录增加，其中特定基因对全球变化驱动因素的反应最为上调。此外，与不同微生境相关的气候条件，例如在植被斑块下发现的条件，可能会起到重要作用。我们提供的证据支持这样一种观点，即全球变化引起的环境胁迫可能会导致致病性增加，因为全球气候正在发生变化。具体而言，胁迫和毒力基因的转录增加，加上基因表达的变化，可能导致致病性的出现。我们的工作强调了研究暴露于全球气候变化和现有真菌病原体增加的旱地真菌以及新真菌病原体出现及其对公共卫生和粮食安全的影响的重要性。
尽管有证据表明，在全球气候变化下，致病性真菌的丰度增加，但对旱地真菌及其对我们社会的影响的研究仍很不足。此外，人们越来越担心全球气候变化将导致新的真菌病原体出现。然而，我们并不了解哪些机制可能导致这种毒力增加和致病性的出现。在这项研究中，我们研究了真菌在旱地生态系统中如何对全球变化驱动因素、物理干扰和干旱做出反应，包括在致病性和胁迫方面的反应。我们发现，在全球变化驱动因素下，与致病性和胁迫相关的基因的转录和表达确实增加了，但微气候条件很重要。我们的研究表明，研究暴露于全球气候变化的旱地真菌及其对我们社会的影响非常重要，这可能包括对公共卫生和粮食安全的威胁。
