Understanding the eco-evolutionary drivers of emerging antifungal resistance

Microbes in their environment are exposed to changing conditions, which select for the most fit variants. This continual process of adaptation leads to the genetic composition of populations shifting in space and time as the fittest mutations track change. Unfortunately, when selection is imposed by chemicals that are designed to kill microbes, then those that are genetically resistant rise in frequency; this results in the global problem of antimicrobial resistance evolving in the environment.

While emerging antimicrobial resistance is widely recognised in bacteria, the emergence of fungi that are resistant to antifungal chemicals is underappreciated yet is compromising our ability to grow blight-free crops and to treat serious human fungal diseases -therefore presenting a classic One Health dilemma. The core focus of our project is Aspergillus species, common environmental moulds to which all humans are exposed due to their ubiquitous presence in the air. Of note, A. fumigatus affects millions of susceptible individuals worldwide (including those with COVID-19) and is increasingly causing disease that is resistant to the frontline azole antifungal drugs that are used to treat it. Crucially, this is the same class of chemicals is used by farmers as fungicides, which is driving a surge in azole-resistant A. fumigatus as this mould comes under selection by these chemicals in its natural environment. However, we currently have very little understanding of the landscape-scale pathways that lead to fungicide chemical residues accumulating to the concentrations that select for, and amplify, resistance in moulds. We understand even less about the consequences combinations of different fungicides on the emergence of resistance, or how interactions with the wider microbial community that may hinder (or help) the emergence of resistance.

Our project will examine the nested anthropogenic drivers - agricultural practices and green-waste recycling - with the aim of...