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Updated: Feb 18, 2026

Microfluidic Tools for Probing Fungal-Microbial Interactions at the Cellular Level
Published on: June 23, 2022
Fungal interactions with the human host: exploring the spectrum of symbiosis
Rebecca A Hall1, Mairi C Noverr2
1Institute of Microbiology and Infection, School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
Abstract:
Fungi are ubiquitous transient or persistent human colonisers, and form the mycobiome with shifts in niche specific mycobiomes (dysbiosis) being associated with various diseases. These complex interactions of fungal species with the human host can be viewed as a spectrum of symbiotic relationships (i.e. commensal, parasitic, mutualistic, amensalistic). The host relevant outcome of the relationship is the damage to benefit ratio, elegantly described in the damage response framework. This review focuses on Candida albicans, which is the most well studied human fungal symbiont clinically and experimentally, its transition from commensalism to parasitism within the human host, and the factors that influence this relationship.
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