Pathogenic fungus

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2022 pathogens of particular concern are:[4] Candida species cause infections in individuals with deficient immune systems.

Candida albicans is a kind of diploid yeast that commonly occurs among the human gut microflora.

[8] C. auris, first described in 2009, is resistant to many frontline antifungal drugs, disinfectants, and heat, which makes it extremely difficult to eradicate.

Some Aspergillus species cause disease on grain crops, especially maize, and synthesize mycotoxins including aflatoxin.

[citation needed] Cryptococcus neoformans can cause a severe form of meningitis and meningo-encephalitis in patients with HIV infection and AIDS.

Papiliotrema laurentii and Naganishia albida, both formerly referred to Cryptococcus, have been known to occasionally cause moderate-to-severe disease in human patients with compromised immunity.

Cryptococcus gattii is endemic to tropical parts of the continent of Africa and Australia and can cause disease in non-immunocompromised people.

[11] The ability of the pathogen to survive within the macrophages probably determines latency of the disease, dissemination and resistance to antifungal agents.

These diploid nuclei may then undergo meiosis, including recombination, resulting in the formation of haploid basidiospores that are able to disperse.

In the case of mucosal candidiasis, the cells that produce cytokine IL-17 are extremely important in maintaining innate immunity.

[19] A comprehensive comparison of distribution of opportunistic pathogens and stress-tolerant fungi in the fungal tree of life showed that polyextremotolerance and opportunistic pathogenicity consistently appear in the same fungal orders and that the co-occurrence of opportunism and extremotolerance (e.g. osmotolerance and psychrotolerance) is statistically significant.