Azole resistance mechanisms and population structure of Aspergillus fumigatus on retail plant products

Aspergillus fumigatus is a ubiquitous saprotroph and human-pathogenic fungus that is life-threatening to the immunocompromised. Triazole-resistant A. fumigatus was found in patients without prior treatment with azoles, leading researchers to conclude that resistance had developed in agricultural environments where azoles are used against plant pathogens. Previous studies have documented azole-resistant A. fumigatus across agricultural environments, but few have looked at retail plant products. Our objectives were to determine if azole-resistant A. fumigatus is prevalent in retail plant products produced in the United States (U.S.), as well as to identify the resistance mechanism(s) and population genetic structure of these isolates. Five hundred twenty-five isolates were collected from retail plant products and screened for azole resistance. Twenty-four isolates collected from compost, soil, flower bulbs, and raw peanuts were pan-azole resistant. Resistant isolates had the TR34/L98H, TR..., Collection and isolation of A. fumigatus from retail plant products
Eight product types were collected from retail stores from September 2019 through April 2021 and surveyed for azole-resistant A. fumigatus. Grapes, apples, almonds, pecans, peanuts, compost, soil, and flower bulbs (tulip, daffodil, Gladiolus, daylily, Dahlia, Canna, Liatris, Caladium, lily of the valley, Clematis, Iris ensata, and magnum elephant ears) were collected from eight retail grocery stores and nine garden centers in the Athens, Georgia, area. The date of collection for fruits and nuts depended on their fresh market season in the U.S. Each product was collected by purchasing a pre-packaged bag. A wide variety of brands, product sizes, and retail stores were sampled. An effort was made to collect products that originated in the U.S; however, some packages of compost and flower bulbs originated from Canada, Costa Rica, and the Netherlands, respectively.
Grapes were first sampled using amended sampling methods (39..., , # Azole resistance mechanisms and population structure of Aspergillus fumigatus on retail plant products

This README file was generated on 2024-04-10 by Caroline Wang.

GENERAL INFORMATION

1. Title of dataset: Azole resistance mechanisms and population structure of Aspergillus fumigatus on retail plant products
2. Author Information
1. Principal Investigator: Marin Brewer; University of Georgia Dept. Plant Pathology; GA USA; [[e-mail]](mailto:marin.brewer@uga.e)
2. First author: Caroline Wang; University of Georgia Dept. Plant Pathology; GA, USA; [[e-mail]](mailto:cburks817@gmail.c)
3. Date of data collection (single date, range, approximate date): 2019-2022
4. Geographic location of data collection: Georgia, USA
5. Information about funding sources that supported the collection of the data: National Institute of Food and Agriculture 2019-67017-29113

SHARING/ACCESS INFORMATION

1. Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: None
2. Links to publicati...