A hidden battle in the dirt: Soil amoebae interactions with Paracoccidioides spp.

ABSTRACT: Paracoccidioides spp. are thermodimorphic fungi that cause a neglected tropical disease (paracoccidioidomycosis) that is endemic to Latin America. These fungi inhabit the soil, where they live as saprophytes with no need for a mammalian host to complete their life cycle. Despite this, they developed sophisticated virulence attributes allowing them not only to survive in host tissues but also to cause disease. A hypothesis for selective pressures driving the emergence or maintenance of virulence of soil fungi is their interaction with soil predators such as amoebae and helminths. We evaluated the presence of environmental amoeboid predators in soil from armadillo burrows where Paracoccidioides had been previously detected and tested if the interaction of Paracoccidioides with amoebae select

SUBMITTER: Albuquerque P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6797224 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature