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.



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 in mBio, 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
pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus, said mycologist Anuradha Chowdhary,
M.D., Ph.D, at the University of Delhi, but the new work focuses on drug-resistant strains of Candida 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 pathogenic C. auris and
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
of C.

auris on 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 is resistant to many drugs. It was first identified 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 of C. auris," Xu said. A
study led by Chowdhary and Xu published last year in mBio was the first
to isolate C.

auris from 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 of C. auris
is not an Indian-specific phenomenon. It's a global menace: In 2019,
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified C. auris as 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.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
American_Society_for_Microbiology. Note: Content may be edited for style
and 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 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220331121150.htm

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