Black yeast explained

Black yeasts, sometimes also black fungi, dematiaceous fungi, microcolonial fungi or meristematic fungi[1] is a diverse group of slow-growing microfungi which reproduce mostly asexually (fungi imperfecti). Only few genera reproduce by budding cells, while in others hyphal or meristematic (isodiametric) reproduction is preponderant.[2] [3] [4] [5] Black yeasts share some distinctive characteristics, in particular a dark colouration (melanisation) of their cell wall. Morphological plasticity, incrustation of the cell wall with melanins and presence of other protective substances like carotenoids and mycosporines[6] represent passive physiological adaptations which enable black fungi to be highly resistant against environmental stresses.[7] The term "polyextremotolerance" has been introduced to describe this phenotype, an example of which is the species Aureobasidium pullulans.[8] Presence of 1,8-dihydroxynaphthalene melanin in the cell wall[9] confers to the microfungi their characteristic olivaceous to dark brown/black colour.

The consortium comprises two phylogenetically very different fungal groups.[10] [11] Many are found in the orders Capnodiales, Dothideales, and Pleosporales (class Dothideomycetes). These black fungi mostly have an extremotolerant life style. Many representatives of this group can colonize bare rocks, e.g. in the Mediterranean basin or in hot and cold dry deserts, and are therefore referred to as rock-inhabiting fungi, or occur in salterns.[12] These black yeasts are believed to be the most resistant eukaryotic organisms known to-date. They were firstly described in the early 80s by three almost concomitant seminal research articles.[13] [14] [15] Members of Chaetothyriales (class Eurotiomycetes) are found in hydrocarbon-rich environments or in nutrient-poor, moist indoor environments, and may occur as opportunistic pathogens of vertebrate hosts, such as Exophiala (Wangiella) dermatitidis.[16] Several species are associated with lichens[17] [18] as well as other phototrophs[19] and sometimes with ants in specific ant-fungi associations.[20]

In recent years, black fungi such as E. dermatitidis or Hortaea werneckii have attracted increasingly attention as model microorganisms in studies on astrobiology,[21] bioremediation of polluted ecosystems by biofiltration,[22] effect of ionizing radiation in contaminated areas,[23] [24] biodeterioration of materials,[25] [26] and mechanisms of adaptation to high salt concentrations. A collaborative effort coordinated by the Broad Institute is currently ongoing to sequence the genomes of several black fungi to shed light into their ecology, phylogeny and pathogenicity.

In 2011, a research paper about occurrence of potentially pathogenic black fungi in household dishwashers[27] was partially misreported by the media and went viral.

Black yeasts are not related to the edible cloud ear fungus Auricularia polytricha.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: 10.1007/3-540-30985-3_20 . Black Yeasts and Meristematic Fungi: Ecology, Diversity and Identification . Biodiversity and Ecophysiology of Yeasts . The Yeast Handbook . 2006 . Sterflinger . Katja . 978-3-540-26100-1 . 501–14 . https://books.google.com/books?id=GgIN0vU1B_0C&pg=PA501 . Carlos . Rosa . Péter . Gábor.
  2. 10.3114/sim.2008.61.15 . The neurotropic black yeast Exophiala dermatitidis has a possible origin in the tropical rain forest . 2008 . Sudhadham . M. . Prakitsin . S. . Sivichai . S. . Chaiyarat . R. . Dorrestein . G. M. . Menken . S.B.J. . De Hoog . G.S. . Studies in Mycology . 61 . 145–55 . 19287537 . 2610309.
  3. de Hoog . GS . Hermanides-Nijhof . EJ . 1977 . The Black Yeasts and Allied Hyphomycetes . Studies in Mycology . 15 . 1–222 . 222951121.
  4. 10.1515/BOT.2005.007 . Melanized halophilic fungi are eukaryotic members of microbial communities in hypersaline waters of solar salterns . 2005 . Butinar . Lorena . Sonjak . Silva . Zalar . Polona . Plemenitaš . Ana . Gunde-Cimerman . Nina . Botanica Marina . 48. 12181468 .
  5. 12421284 . 2002 . Matos . T . De Hoog . GS . De Boer . AG . De Crom . I . Haase . G . 4842988 . High prevalence of the neurotrope Exophiala dermatitidis and related oligotrophic black yeasts in sauna facilities . 45 . 9–10 . 373–7 . Mycoses . 10.1046/j.1439-0507.2002.00779.x. free .
  6. 10.3114/sim.2008.61.09 . Cellular responses of microcolonial rock fungi to long-term desiccation and subsequent rehydration . 2008 . Gorbushina . A.A. . Kotlova . E.R. . Sherstneva . O.A. . Studies in Mycology . 61 . 91–7 . 19287531 . 2610304.
  7. 10.1111/j.1574-6941.2009.00794.x . Extremotolerance in fungi: Evolution on the edge . 2010 . Gostinčar . Cene . Grube . Martin . De Hoog . Sybren . Zalar . Polona . Gunde-Cimerman . Nina . FEMS Microbiology Ecology . 71 . 2–11 . 19878320 . 1. free .
  8. Gostinčar . C. . Grube . M. . Gunde-Cimerman . N. . 2011 . Evolution of Fungal Pathogens in Domestic Environments? . Fungal Biology . 115 . 10. 1008–1018 . 10.1016/j.funbio.2011.03.004 . 21944213 .
  9. 10.1016/S0378-1097(04)00073-4 . Evidence for 1,8-dihydroxynaphthalene melanin in three halophilic black yeasts grown under saline and non-saline conditions . 2004 . Kogej . Tina . Wheeler . Michael H . Lanišnik Rižner . Tea . Gunde-Cimerman . Nina . FEMS Microbiology Letters . 232 . 2 . 203–9 . 15033240. free .
  10. 10.3114/sim.2008.61.11 . A rock-inhabiting ancestor for mutualistic and pathogen-rich fungal lineages . 2008 . Gueidan . C. . Villasenor . C. R. . De Hoog . G. S. . Gorbushina . A. A. . Untereiner . W. A. . Lutzoni . F. . Studies in Mycology . 61 . 111–9 . 19287533 . 2610302.
  11. 10.3114/sim.2009.64.06 . Phylogeny of rock-inhabiting fungi related to Dothideomycetes . 2010 . Ruibal . C. . Gueidan . C. . Selbmann . L. . Gorbushina . A.A. . Crous . P.W. . Groenewald . J.Z. . Muggia . L. . Grube . M. . Isola . D. . Schoch . C.L. . Staley . J.T. . Lutzoni . F. . De Hoog . G.S. . Studies in Mycology . 64 . 123–133S7 . 20169026 . 2816969.
  12. 10.3114/sim.2008.61.06 . Adaptation of extremely halotolerant black yeast Hortaea werneckii to increased osmolarity: A molecular perspective at a glance . 2008 . Plemenitaš . A. . Vaupotič . T. . Lenassi . M. . Kogej . T. . Gunde-Cimerman . N. . Studies in Mycology . 61 . 67–75 . 19287528 . 2610308.
  13. 10.1126/science.215.4536.1093 . Microcolonial Fungi: Common Inhabitants on Desert Rocks? . 1982 . Staley . J. T. . Palmer . F. . Adams . J. B. . Science . 215 . 4536 . 1093–5 . 17771840. 1982Sci...215.1093S . 9032744 .
  14. 10.1007/BF00378791 . 28310059 . Biogenic rock varnishes of the negev desert (Israel) an ecological study of iron and manganese transformation by cyanobacteria and fungi . 1981 . Krumbein . W. E. . Jens . K. . Oecologia . 50 . 1 . 25–38. 1981Oecol..50...25K . 27020398 .
  15. 10.1126/science.215.4536.1045 . Endolithic Microorganisms in the Antarctic Cold Desert . 1982 . Friedmann . E. I. . Science . 215 . 4536 . 1045–53 . 17771821. 1982Sci...215.1045I . 42255976 .
  16. De Hoog GS, Guarro J, Gené J, Figueras MJ (2009). Atlas of Clinical Fungi, third ed. Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
  17. 10.1007/s11046-012-9598-8 . 23161018 . The Lichen Connections of Black Fungi . 2012 . Muggia . Lucia . Gueidan . Cecile . Knudsen . Kerry . Perlmutter . Gary . Grube . Martin . Mycopathologia. 175 . 5–6 . 523–35 . 14170265 .
  18. 10.3114/sim.2008.61.08 . Black fungi in lichens from seasonally arid habitats . 2008 . Harutyunyan . S. . Muggia . L. . Grube . M. . Studies in Mycology . 61 . 83–90 . 19287530 . 2610299.
  19. 10.3389/fmicb.2012.00390 . 23162543 . 3492852 . Polyextremotolerant black fungi: Oligotrophism, adaptive potential, and a link to lichen symbioses . 2012 . Gostinčar . Cene . Muggia . Lucia . Grube . Martin . Frontiers in Microbiology . 3. 390 . free .
  20. 10.1016/j.funbio.2010.11.006 . The diversity of ant-associated black yeasts: Insights into a newly discovered world of symbiotic interactions . 2011 . Voglmayr . Hermann . Mayer . Veronika . Maschwitz . Ulrich . Moog . Joachim . Djieto-Lordon . Champlain . Blatrix . Rumsaïs . Fungal Biology . 115 . 10 . 1077–91 . 21944219.
  21. 10.3114/sim.2008.61.10 . Resistance of Antarctic black fungi and cryptoendolithic communities to simulated space and Martian conditions . 2008 . Onofri . S. . Barreca . D. . Selbmann . L. . Isola . D. . Rabbow . E. . Horneck . G. . De Vera . J.P.P. . Hatton . J. . Zucconi . L. . Studies in Mycology . 61 . 99–109 . 19287532 . 2610303 .
  22. 10.1111/j.1574-6976.2005.00007.x . Fungi growing on aromatic hydrocarbons: Biotechnology's unexpected encounter with biohazard? . 2006 . Prenafeta-Boldú . Francesc X. . Summerbell . Richard . Sybren De Hoog . G. . FEMS Microbiology Reviews . 30 . 109–30 . 16438682 . 1.
  23. 10.1371/journal.pone.0048674 . Adaptation of the Black Yeast Wangiella dermatitidis to Ionizing Radiation: Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms . 2012 . Nielsen . Kirsten . Robertson . Kelly L. . Mostaghim . Anahita . Cuomo . Christina A. . Soto . Carissa M. . Lebedev . Nikolai . Bailey . Robert F. . Wang . Zheng . PLOS ONE . 7 . 11 . e48674 . 23139812 . 3490873. 2012PLoSO...748674R . free .
  24. 10.1371/journal.pone.0000457 . Ionizing Radiation Changes the Electronic Properties of Melanin and Enhances the Growth of Melanized Fungi . 2007 . Rutherford . Julian . Dadachova . Ekaterina . Bryan . Ruth A. . Huang . Xianchun . Moadel . Tiffany . Schweitzer . Andrew D. . Aisen . Philip . Nosanchuk . Joshua D. . Casadevall . Arturo . PLOS ONE . 2 . 5 . e457 . 17520016 . 1866175. 2007PLoSO...2..457D . free .
  25. 10.1128/AEM.02220-06 . Synthetic Consolidants Attacked by Melanin-Producing Fungi: Case Study of the Biodeterioration of Milan (Italy) Cathedral Marble Treated with Acrylics . 2006 . Cappitelli . F. . Nosanchuk . J. D. . Casadevall . A. . Toniolo . L. . Brusetti . L. . Florio . S. . Principi . P. . Borin . S. . Sorlini . C. . Applied and Environmental Microbiology . 73 . 271–7 . 17071788 . 1 . 1797126 .
  26. 10.1080/01490459309377952 . Role of black fungi in color change and biodeterioration of antique marbles . 1993 . Gorbushina . A. A. . Krumbein . W. E. . Hamman . C. H. . Panina . L. . Soukharjevski . S. . Wollenzien . U. . Geomicrobiology Journal . 11 . 3–4 . 205–221. 1993GmbJ...11..205G .
  27. 10.1016/j.funbio.2011.04.007 . Dishwashers – A man-made ecological niche accommodating human opportunistic fungal pathogens . June 20, 2011 . 2011 . Zalar . P. . Novak . M. . De Hoog . G.S. . Gunde-Cimerman . N. . Fungal Biology . 115 . 10 . 997–1007 . 21944212.

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