Tue, 10/15/2013 – 15:58

Submitted by Aspergillus Administrator on 15 October 2013

Fungi represent an emerging threat, and are increasingly eroding the health of animals, plants and the ecosystem as a whole worldwide. They inhabit every continent on Earth (including Antarctica) and every conceivable environment is within reach. The Kingdom itself consists of over 1.5 million species by estimate, and possibly up to 500 times that figure.

Whilst we use fungi to our benefit in a variety of ways—from drug development to food—they nevertheless represent an urgent threat to Earth’s ecosystem. Several animals species, including various amphibians, bats, honeybees and snakes, have pandemic fungal diseases affecting them. In addition, being animals ourselves, we’re becoming increasing affected by several fungal diseases. Hospital incidences of coccidioidomycosis and cryptococcosis have increased in recent years throughout the United States, whilst other fungal species like Aspergillus and Candida are infecting an increasing worldwide population of immunodeficient individuals.

Furthermore, they represent a threat to plant health worldwide. Here in the UK, Chalara fraxinea (Hymenoscyphus pseudoalbidus)—or ash dieback— is spreading through our ash tree population like wildfire, having destroyed over 100,000 ash trees since discovery of the disease in the UK in February 2012. In addition, many worldwide species of plants are being killed by numerous fungal pathogens, ultimately leading to large regional losses of CO₂ absorption capacity.

Overall it appears that fungi are an increasing common cause of plant and animal extinction, including the bat species Myotis lucifugus, which is almost certain to become extinct in just over a decade without further action. The trend is increasing in different Kingdoms, with Fisher et al. attributing this extinction prowess to high virulence, persistence within the environment and other factors.

Without further and far-reaching action, these increasing trends represent a threat, in both the short and long term, to human, animal and plant health. The high socio-economic cost to crops and healthcare provide impetus for further research, as the battle is not one which we can afford to lose.

Fisher, M. (2013) Emerging fungal threats to animal, plant and ecosystem health. Presented at the 6th Trends in Medical Mycology, Copenhagen, Denmark: Presentation.