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Fungal virulence, vertebrate endothermy, and dinosaur extinction: is there a connection?

Arturo Casadevall1

  • 1Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Ave, Bronx, NY 10461, USA. casadeva@aecom.yu.edu

Fungal Genetics and Biology : FG & B
|January 27, 2005
PubMed

Insights

Fungal infections are rare in mammals due to high body temperatures acting as a thermal barrier. Interactions with environmental microbes may select for fungal traits that enhance animal host survival.

Area of Science:

  • Mycology
  • Immunology
  • Evolutionary Biology

Background:

  • Fungi are common pathogens in non-mammalian species but rarely cause severe systemic disease in immunocompetent mammals.
  • The ability of soil fungi to infect animals, despite not requiring them for survival, presents an evolutionary paradox.
  • Environmental microbial interactions, including predation, may select for fungal traits advantageous for animal host survival.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the reasons behind the rarity of systemic fungal infections in mammals.
  • To investigate the role of host body temperature as a defense mechanism against fungal pathogens.
  • To examine the potential impact of fungal diseases on vertebrate evolution.

Main Methods:

  • Comparative analysis of fungal pathogenicity across different taxa.
  • Review of existing literature on host-pathogen interactions and thermotolerance in fungi.
  • Hypothesizing evolutionary pressures related to fungal diseases and endothermy.

Main Results:

  • High body temperatures in endothermic animals create a significant thermal barrier against most fungal species.
  • Fungal diseases are more prevalent in birds, primarily caused by a few thermotolerant species.
  • Vertebrate resistance to fungal diseases is likely a combination of high body temperature and immune defenses.

Conclusions:

  • Endothermy may have been driven by the selective pressure to resist fungal infections.
  • Fungal diseases could have played a role in major evolutionary events, such as the extinction of dinosaurs and the rise of mammals.

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