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Updated: Oct 1, 2025
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Microfluidic Tools for Probing Fungal-Microbial Interactions at the Cellular Level
Published on: June 23, 2022
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Bacterial-fungal interactions and their impact on microbial pathogenesis
Jessie MacAlpine1, Nicole Robbins1, Leah E Cowen1
1Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Molecular Ecology
|March 1, 2022
Summary
Human microbiota interactions between bacteria and fungi impact health and disease. Understanding these microbial dynamics offers potential for discovering new antimicrobials and antivirulence factors from the human microbiome.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Human Health
- Microbiome Research
Background:
- Human health relies on microbial homeostasis; dysbiosis is linked to diseases like diabetes, cancer, and colitis.
- Interactions between microbial community members are crucial for maintaining health or causing disease.
- Mechanisms governing microbial interactions within the human body are not fully understood.
Approach:
- This review outlines bacterial-fungal interactions within the human body.
- It examines how bacteria influence fungal growth and virulence, and vice versa.
- Focuses on chemical, physical, and protein-based interaction mechanisms.
Key Points:
- Highlights interactions involving Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans, and Aspergillus fumigatus, key pathogens in systemic fungal infections.
- Discusses how these interactions can exacerbate or impede human diseases.
- Explores the role of microbial interactions in disease pathogenesis.
Conclusions:
- Recent research mines microbes for novel antimicrobials and antivirulence factors.
- The human microbiota represents a valuable resource for small molecule discovery.
- Further understanding of microbial interactions can lead to new therapeutic strategies.
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