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Updated: Jul 1, 2025
Whole Genome Sequencing of Candida glabrata for Detection of Markers of Antifungal Drug Resistance
Published on: December 28, 2017
Evolutionary trends in antifungal resistance: a meta-analysis
Xueke Niu1,2, Abdullah M S Al-Hatmi2,3, Roxana G Vitale4,5
1Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Monitoring and Disease Control, Ministry of Education of Guizhou & Key Laboratory of Microbiology and Parasitology of Education Department of Guizhou, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China.
This study analyzed antifungal resistance in 318 fungal species, revealing that resistance patterns often align with fungal evolutionary relationships. Fungal phylogeny helps predict susceptibility to antifungal drugs.
Area of Science:
- Mycology
- Antimicrobial Resistance
- Evolutionary Biology
Background:
- Understanding antifungal drug efficacy across diverse fungal species is crucial for effective treatment.
- Published wild-type antifungal data for numerous fungal species are available but require comprehensive analysis.
- Fungal phylogeny offers a framework to explore evolutionary patterns in drug response.
Approach:
- A meta-analysis of literature data was performed on 318 fungal species across 34 orders.
- Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) results were evaluated against established clinical breakpoints.
- Antifungal resistance patterns were visualized and compared with a fungal phylogenetic tree.
Key Points:
- Several fungal orders, including Hypocreales, Microascales, and Mucorales, consistently exhibited resistance to tested antifungal agents.
- Basidiomycetous orders showed high degrees of multi-resistance to azoles.
- Susceptibility to azoles was generally observed in orders with many pathogenic species, such as Onygenales and Malasseziales.
Conclusions:
- Fungal antifungal resistance is frequently associated with phylogenetic distance, with species in the same order displaying similar drug responses.
- The largest kingdom-wide comparison of wild-type antifungal data supports a link between fungal evolution and drug interaction.
- Phylogenetic analysis provides insights into predicting antifungal susceptibility across the fungal kingdom.
