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Review
. 2024 Sep 26;20(9):e1012551.
doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1012551. eCollection 2024 Sep.

Fungal pathogens and symbionts: Living off the fat of the land

Olga A Nev  1 , Márcia David-Palma  2 , Joseph Heitman  2 , Alistair J P Brown  1 , Marco A Coelho  2
Affiliations
Review

Fungal pathogens and symbionts: Living off the fat of the land

Olga A Nev et al. PLoS Pathog. .
No abstract available

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

I have read the journal’s policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: JH serves as the senior editor for the PLOS Pathogens Pearls series. Other authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Distinct fungal–host adaptations resulting in loss of de novo fatty acid synthesis.
This figure highlights diverse adaptations of fungi that rely on host-derived fatty acids (FAs) for growth due to the loss of de novo FA synthesis: Pneumocystis spp., residing in mammalian lungs becoming pathogenic when host immunity is compromised, are shown from haploid cell conjugation to zygote formation, mature cyst development with elongated trophic forms, and spore dispersion. Malassezia spp., living on skin, utilize FAs from sebum, depicted with yeast cells in sebaceous gland secretions, where overgrowth can lead to skin diseases. Microsporidia, as parasites in the gastrointestinal tract, progress through spore resistance in the environment, germination, host cell invasion via polar tubule eversion, sporoplasm injection, proliferation and maturation, and spore release to infect new cells. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) engage in symbiotic relationships with plant roots, depicted with fungal structures inside plant cells where they receive lipids from the plant, compensating for their inability to synthesize FAs themselves. Figure generated with BioRender (https://www.biorender.com/).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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