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Published on: June 23, 2022
From Fungicide to Phagosome: A One Health View of Copper-Driven Fungal-Bacterial Interactions
1The Medical Research Council Centre for Medical Mycology at the University of Exeter, Streatham Drive, Exeter, EX4 4QD UK.
Purpose Of Review:
Copper links environmental, animal and host-associated niches as a micronutrient, antimicrobial, biocide and selective pressure. This review examines how copper exposure shapes fungal-bacterial communities and proposes the "cuprosphere" as a One Health framework for these connected copper-influenced environments.
Recent Findings:
Copper inputs from crop protection, livestock feed, manure, wastewater, built environments and host immunity can suppress sensitive microbes, select copper-tolerant taxa, enrich resistance determinants and alter interkingdom networks. In Candida albicans-Staphylococcus aureus biofilms, complementary copper-handling responses suggest that copper homeostasis can support mixed-community resilience.
Summary:
Copper should be viewed as a One Health ecological force that shapes fungal-bacterial communities across environmental, animal and host-associated niches.
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