Genomic and physiological signatures of adaptation in pathogenic fungi

Authors: GUERREIRO, MARCO - University Of Kiel; YURKOV, ANDREY - Leibniz Institute; NOWROUSIAN, MINOU - Ruhr-University Bochum; Broders, Kirk; STUKENBROCK, EVA - University Of Kiel

Submitted to: Nature Communications
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/16/2025
Publication Date: 1/15/2026
Citation: Guerreiro, M.A., Yurkov, A., Nowrousian, M., Broders, K., Stukenbrock, E.H. 2026. Genomic and physiological signatures of adaptation in pathogenic fungi. Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68330-6.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68330-6

Interpretive Summary: Fungi are an emerging and persistent threat to human, animal and plant health across the world. In both clinical and agriculture settings, the ability of fungi to quickly evolve and adapt, has resulted in new host infections and increased resistance to fungicides. An ARS researcher in Peoria, Illinois, worked with researchers at the Leibniz Institute German Collection of Microorganisms (DSMZ) and, through the Max Planck Institute's IMPRS partnership program, the University of Kiel and Ruhr University Bochum to understand how new pathogens arise from non-pathogenic species that naturally live in the environment. The researchers determined that some fungal species are able to rapidly adapt to new environments through more efficient and expedient changes in how genes are expressed by the fungus in response to that new environment. This mechanism for quickly adapting to new environments was found in several unrelated fungal groups. This information could be valuable to researchers to use genome data of even more non-pathogenic fungal species from the environment to predict how likely they are to become opportunistic human pathogens.

Technical Abstract: Emerging fungal pathogens have detrimental impacts on crops, animals, and humans. Despite the mounting threat of these emerging fungal pathogens, little is known about their transition from saprotrophic to pathogenic lifestyles. To gain insights into fungal lifestyle transitions, we studied the Trichosporonales order, which includes both saprotrophic species and opportunistic human pathogens, as a system to reveal evolutionary adaptations leading to virulence in fungi. Here we used comparative genome analyses and experimental assays to demonstrate that the transition from saprotroph to opportunistic human pathogen is facilitated by adaptive translation. Codon optimization of metabolic genes grant these fungi the ability to quickly adapt to new environments. In this study, we link genomic data with fungal physiology, highlighting the role of adaptive translation in colonizing different environments and suggesting that gene translation optimization plays a critical role in fungal lifestyle evolution.