Microplastics Accumulate Fungal Pathogens in Terrestrial Ecosystems

To unravel the role of MP as carrier of fungal pathogens in terrestrial ecosystems, epiplastic mycobiomes from municipal plastic waste from Kenya were deciphered using ITS metabarcoding and a comprehensive meta-analysis. We demonstrate that MPs represent selective artificial micro-habitats for important pathogens of plants and animals. We further report the enrichment of certain opportunistic human pathogens in the plastisphere mycobiome, including cryptococcal and phoma-like species. These findings indicate that fungal pathogen ecology is directly impacted by plastic that effectively serves as a persistent reservoir and potential vector for fungal pathogens. Given the increasing amount of plastic waste in terrestrial environments worldwide, this interrelation may have severe consequences for the epidemiology of fungal infections on a global scale.