Piontkivska Daryna, Jorge João M P, Mil-Homens Dalila, Martins Tiago M, Crespo Pedro, Morales Demosthenes P, Carvalho Dinah, Melo-Cristino José, Sá-Leão Raquel, Goldman Gustavo H, Silva Pereira Cristina
Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (ITQB NOVA), Oeiras, Portugal.
Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences (iBB) and Institute for Health and Bioeconomy (i4HB), Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Lisboa, Portugal.
Environ Microbiol Rep. 2025 Aug;17(4):e70153. doi: 10.1111/1758-2229.70153.
Bacterial-fungal interactions that influence the behaviour of one or both organisms are common in nature. Well-studied systems include endosymbiotic relationships that range from transient to long-term associations. Diverse endohyphal bacteria associate with fungal hosts, emphasising the need to better comprehend the fungal bacteriome. We evaluated the hypothesis that Aspergillus fumigatus harbours an endohyphal community of bacteria that influence the host phenotype. We analysed whether 38 A. fumigatus strains show stable association with diverse endohyphal bacteria; all derived from single-conidium cultures that were subjected to antibiotic and heat treatments. The fungal bacteriome, inferred through analysis of bacterial diversity within the fungal strains (short- and long- read sequencing methods), revealed the presence of core endohyphal bacterial genera. Microscopic analysis further confirmed the presence of endohyphal bacteria. The fungal strains exhibited high genetic diversity and phenotypic heterogeneity in drug susceptibility and in vivo virulence. No correlations were observed between genomic or functional traits and bacteriome diversity, but the abundance of some bacterial genera correlated with fungal virulence or posaconazole susceptibility. The observed endobacteriome may play functional roles, for example, nitrogen fixation. Our study emphasises the existence of complex interactions between fungi and endohyphal bacteria, possibly impacting the phenotype of the fungal host, including virulence.
影响一种或两种生物体行为的细菌 - 真菌相互作用在自然界中很常见。经过充分研究的系统包括从短暂到长期关联的内共生关系。多种内生真菌细菌与真菌宿主相关联，这凸显了更好地理解真菌细菌群落的必要性。我们评估了以下假设：烟曲霉含有一个影响宿主表型的内生真菌细菌群落。我们分析了38株烟曲霉菌株是否与多种内生真菌细菌表现出稳定的关联；所有菌株均来自经过抗生素和热处理的单分生孢子培养物。通过分析真菌菌株内的细菌多样性（短读长和长读长测序方法）推断出的真菌细菌群落，揭示了核心内生真菌细菌属的存在。显微镜分析进一步证实了内生真菌细菌的存在。这些真菌菌株在药物敏感性和体内毒力方面表现出高度的遗传多样性和表型异质性。在基因组或功能特征与细菌群落多样性之间未观察到相关性，但某些细菌属的丰度与真菌毒力或泊沙康唑敏感性相关。观察到的内生细菌群落可能发挥功能作用，例如固氮作用。我们的研究强调了真菌与内生真菌细菌之间存在复杂的相互作用，这可能会影响真菌宿主的表型，包括毒力。
