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. 2025 Jul 31;13(8):1784.
doi: 10.3390/microorganisms13081784.

Dysbiosis in the Nasal Mycobiome of Infants Born in the Aftermath of Hurricane Maria

Ruochen Wang  1 , David de Ángel Solá  2 , Félix E Rivera-Mariani  3   4 , Benjamín Bolaños Rosero  5 , Nicolás Rosario Matos  2 , Leyao Wang  1   6
Affiliations

Dysbiosis in the Nasal Mycobiome of Infants Born in the Aftermath of Hurricane Maria

Ruochen Wang et al. Microorganisms. .

Abstract

Hurricanes and flooding events substantially elevate indoor fungal spore levels, which have been associated with increased risks of developing childhood asthma and other adverse respiratory outcomes. Although environmental fungal compositions following major hurricanes have been well characterized, the fungal communities within the nasal cavity (i.e., the nasal mycobiome) of exposed individuals remain unexplored. We collected nasal swab samples from infants following Hurricane Maria in San Juan, Puerto Rico, during two periods (March to August 2018 and February to September 2019). We processed a total of 58 samples (26 from the first year and 32 from the second year post-Hurricane Maria) and performed internally transcribed spacer (ITS) rRNA gene sequencing to characterize and compare the infant nasal mycobiome between the two groups. Although alpha-diversity did not differ significantly, beta-diversity analyses revealed significantly different fungal compositions between the two groups (p <0.01). Infants exposed during the first year post-Hurricane Maria had significantly higher abundances of Alternaria, Eutypella, Schizophyllum, and Auricularia, compared to infants from the second year. Alternaria was also more prevalent in the first-year than in the second-year infants (42% vs. 9%, p = 0.01). Our study provides evidence linking early-life hurricane exposures to elevated risks of developing childhood asthma.

Keywords: HOLA cohort study; Hurricane Maria; climate change; fungi; infant nasal mycobiome.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Map showing the residential locations of study participants in Puerto Rico.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison of the infant nasal mycobiome at the community level. (A) The nasal mycobiome with each bar representing a nasal sample. The top 20 abundant fungal genera are displayed. (B) Alpha-diversity analyses between both groups. Statistical significance was based on the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. (C) Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) plot was based on the Bray-Curtis distance. Statistical significance was based on the analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) test. (D) Alpha-diversity analyses by self-reported fungal exposure in the Year 1 Group. Statistical significance was assessed using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. (E) PCoA plot based on the Bray-Curtis distance by fungal exposure in Year 1 Group. Statistical significance was analyzed with the ANOSIM test.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Alternaria was more abundant and prevalent in the Year 1 Group than the Year 2 Group. (A) Volcano plot displaying differentially abundant fungal genera. Data were analyzed using the DESeq2 algorithm (excluding genera present in <20% of samples) and adjusted for multiple comparisons using the Benjamini-Hochberg method. Red and blue dots indicate significantly abundant genera. (B) Alternaria prevalence is shown by group. Statistical significance was assessed using the Chi-Square test.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Comparison of selected genera. (A) Relative abundance of selected genera between the two groups. Statistical significance was assessed using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. (B) Prevalence of selected genera by group. Statistical significance was evaluated using the Chi-square test for Aspergillus and Fisher’s exact test for Cladosporium and Penicillium.
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