ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2019
A hidden battle in the dirt: Soil amoebae interactions with Paracoccidioides spp.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- A history of over 40 years of potentially pathogenic free-living amoeba studies in Brazil - a systematic review.Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz · 2022Pooled it
- Molecular Species Identification and Genotyping of Free-Living Amoebae in Soil of Recreational Mountain Areas in the Babiogórski National Park and Surroundings, Southern Poland.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Interactions of the emerging fungusMicrobiology spectrum · 2025Article
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- Amoeba predation of Cryptococcus: A quantitative and population genomic evaluation of the accidental pathogen hypothesis.PLoS pathogens · 2023Article
- Control of Blumeria graminis f. sp. hordei on Barley Leaves by Treatment with Fungi-Consuming Protist Isolates.Current microbiology · 2023Article
- Homeostasis of cellular amino acids in Acanthamoeba castellanii exposed to different media under amoeba-bacteria coculture conditions.BMC microbiology · 2023Article
- WasmBio · 2023Review
- Structured foraging of soil predators unveils functional responses to bacterial defenses.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
- Paracoccidioidomycosis: Current Status and Future Trends.Clinical microbiology reviews · 2022Review
- Evolution of the human pathogenic lifestyle in fungi.Nature microbiology · 2022Review
- Interaction ofFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022Article
- Recognition of Cell Wall Mannosylated Components as a Conserved Feature for Fungal Entrance, Adaptation and Survival Within Trophozoites ofFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022Article
- Microbial warfare in the wild-the impact of protists on the evolution and virulence of bacterial pathogens.International microbiology : the official journal of the Spanish Society for Microbiology · 2021Review
- Exploring genetic diversity, population structure, and phylogeography inStudies in mycology · 2021Article
- Article
- Ultrastructural Study ofFrontiers in microbiology · 2021Article
- Transcriptional Remodeling Patterns in Murine Dendritic Cells Infected withJournal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- Update on Acanthamoeba phylogeny.Parasitology research · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
18 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Paracoccidioides spp. are thermodimorphic fungi that cause a neglected tropical disease (paracoccidioidomycosis) that is endemic to Latin America. These fungi inhabit the soil, where they live as saprophytes with no need for a mammalian host to complete their life cycle. Despite this, they developed sophisticated virulence attributes allowing them not only to survive in host tissues but also to cause disease. A hypothesis for selective pressures driving the emergence or maintenance of virulence of soil fungi is their interaction with soil predators such as amoebae and helminths. We evaluated the presence of environmental amoeboid predators in soil from armadillo burrows where Paracoccidioides had been previously detected and tested if the interaction of Paracoccidioides with amoebae selects for fungi with increased virulence. Nematodes, ciliates, and amoebae-all potential predators of fungi-grew in cultures from soil samples. Microscopical observation and ITS sequencing identified the amoebae as Acanthamoeba spp, Allovahlkampfia spelaea, and Vermamoeba vermiformis. These three amoebae efficiently ingested, killed and digested Paracoccidioides spp. yeast cells, as did laboratory adapted axenic Acanthamoeba castellanii. Sequential co-cultivation of Paracoccidioides with A. castellanii selected for phenotypical traits related to the survival of the fungus within a natural predator as well as in murine macrophages and in vivo (Galleria mellonella and mice). These changes in virulence were linked to the accumulation of cell wall alpha-glucans, polysaccharides that mask recognition of fungal molecular patterns by host pattern recognition receptors. Altogether, our results indicate that Paracoccidioides inhabits a complex environment with multiple amoeboid predators that can exert selective pressure to guide the evolution of virulence traits.
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Registered trials
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