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Apples and other fruits can host drug-resistant, pathogenic yeasts on surfaces, study finds

Fungicides used to prolong shelf life of fruits may select for pathogenic yeasts and boost transmission

Date:
March 31, 2022
Source:
American Society for Microbiology
Summary:
Fungicides used to prolong shelf life of fruits may select for pathogenic yeasts and boost transmission. Those pathogens include Candida auris, a drug-resistant pathogenic yeast found in stored apples in a recent study.
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FULL STORY

When they're prepared for transport, apples and other fruits are often treated with a fungicide to prevent spoilage and extend shelf life. The practice preserves freshness, but it may be a double-edged sword: They may help select and boost the transmission of pathogenic yeasts that are multi-drug resistant. A study published this week inmBio,an open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, offers new evidence for that idea.

Previous studies have examined the effect of fungicides on the human pathogenAspergillus fumigatus, said mycologist Anuradha Chowdhary, M.D., Ph.D, at the University of Delhi, but the new work focuses on drug-resistant strains ofCandida auris, a pathogenic yeast that spreads quickly in hospitals and has been isolated from nature. Fungicides used in agriculture may inadvertently select the drug resistant fungi, Chowdhary said.

She and her collaborators screened the surfaces of 84 fruits, representing 9 different tree fruit types, for pathogenicC. aurisand other yeasts. The fruits were collected in 2020 and 2021 from areas of northern India and included 62 apples -- 20 picked in orchards and 42 purchased from a market in Delhi. Each fruit species hosted at least 1 type of yeast.

The scientists focused on the apples. They found drug-resistant strains ofC. aurison a total of 8 apples (13%) and used whole genome sequencing to identify 16 distinct colonies. The apples included 5 'Red Delicious' and 3 'Royal Gala' varieties. All 8 of those apples had been stored before purchase, and none of the freshly-picked apples hostedC. auris.

The group found other Candida strains on the packed apples, said microbiologist Jianping Xu, Ph.D, at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Xu co-led the study with Chowdhary.

C. auris是许多药物抵抗。这是第一次标识符d in 2009 in Japan, and since then it has emerged in or spread to all inhabited continents. Researchers have been investigating how the pathogen originates and spreads. "We still don't really understand the forces that drive the simultaneous emergence of multiple distinct genetic clusters ofC. auris," Xu said. A study led by Chowdhary and Xu published last year in mBio was the first to isolateC. aurisfrom a natural environment, the marshes and sandy beaches of a natural coastal ecosystem in the Andaman Islands, India.

The new findings suggest the apples could be a selective force for the pathogen, and help it to spread. Although the study focused on fruits collected from northern India, Xu pointed out that the spread ofC. aurisis not an Indian-specific phenomenon. It's a global menace: In 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identifiedC. aurisas 1 of 5 pathogens that pose an urgent threat to public health worldwide. To figure out how to respond to the pathogen's threat to humans, researchers need to know how it travels through other natural systems.

"When we look at human pathogens, we tend to look at what's immediate to us," Xu said. "But we have to look at it more broadly. Everything is connected, the whole system. Fruit is just 1 example."

Fungi are an important part of the environment, and Chowdhary said the new study shows how the environment, animals and humans are all connected -- the central tenet in the concept of One Health. "The One Health concept warrants continuous efforts and our attention in preventing the transmission of infections," she said.

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Materialsprovided byAmerican Society for Microbiology.注意:内容可能被编辑风格d length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Anamika Yadav, Kusum Jain, Yue Wang, Kalpana Pawar, Hardeep Kaur, Krishan Kumar Sharma, Vandana Tripathy, Ashutosh Singh, Jianping Xu, Anuradha Chowdhary.Candida auris on Apples: Diversity and Clinical Significance.mBio, 2022; DOI:10.1128/mbio.00518-22

Cite This Page:

American Society for Microbiology. "Apples and other fruits can host drug-resistant, pathogenic yeasts on surfaces, study finds: Fungicides used to prolong shelf life of fruits may select for pathogenic yeasts and boost transmission." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 31 March 2022. .
American Society for Microbiology. (2022, March 31). Apples and other fruits can host drug-resistant, pathogenic yeasts on surfaces, study finds: Fungicides used to prolong shelf life of fruits may select for pathogenic yeasts and boost transmission.ScienceDaily. Retrieved June 27, 2023 from www.koonmotors.com/releases/2022/03/220331121150.htm
American Society for Microbiology. "Apples and other fruits can host drug-resistant, pathogenic yeasts on surfaces, study finds: Fungicides used to prolong shelf life of fruits may select for pathogenic yeasts and boost transmission." ScienceDaily. www.koonmotors.com/releases/2022/03/220331121150.htm (accessed June 27, 2023).

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