Understanding Mucormycoses in the Age of “omics”

Abstract

Mucormycoses are deadly invasive infections caused by several fungal species belonging to the subphylum Mucoromycotina, order Mucorales. Hallmarks of disease progression include angioinvasion and tissue necrosis that aid in fungal dissemination through the blood stream, causing deeper infections and resulting in poor penetration of antifungal agents to the site of infection. In the absence of surgical removal of the infected focus, antifungal therapy alone is rarely curative. Even when surgical debridement is combined with high-dose antifungal therapy, the mortality associated with mucormycoses is >50%. The unacceptably high mortality rate, limited options for therapy and the extreme morbidity of highly disfiguring surgical therapy provide a clear mandate to understand the molecular mechanisms that govern pathogenesis with the hopes of developing alternative strategies to treat and prevent mucormycoses. In the absence of robust forward and reverse genetic systems available for this taxonomic group of fungi, unbiased next generation sequence (NGS)-based approaches have provided much needed insights into our understanding of many aspects of Mucormycoses, including genome structure, drug resistance, diagnostic development, and fungus-host interactions. Here, we will discuss the specific contributions that NGSbased approaches have made to the field and discuss open questions that can be addressed using similar approaches.

Pulmonary mucormycosis: A case report

“…Patients with haematologic malignancy appear more likely to develop invasive fungal pulmonary infection, when compared to those with diabetes, in whom rhino-orbito-cerebral disease is the most common presentation of invasive mold disease. As seen in other case series, pulmonary mucormycosis is rare in patients with diabetes mellitus [1] , [2] , [7] , [4] .…”

“…Mucormycosis is a rare fungal infection caused by Mucorales order fungi [1] . It is an angio-invasive fungal infection, which despite early diagnosis and aggressive therapy, is associated with high morbidity and mortality [2] , [3] , [4] . The rhino-cerebral form of mucormycosis is most commonly seen in patients with diabetes mellitus, whereas, pulmonary mucormycosis is a rare manifestation in patients with haematological malignancy and transplant recipients [3] .…”

Novel Mucor species (Mucoromycetes, Mucoraceae) from northern Thailand

“…Mucor irregularis, which has close phylogenetic affinity to the new species also has the ability to grow at this temperature. Mucor irregularis is an opportunistic pathogen causing cutaneous mucoromycosis mostly in immunocompromised individuals (Lu et al 2013;Xu et al 2018;Soare et al 2020). Thermotolerance in Mucor usually hints at pathogenic potential, however not all thermotolerant species are pathogens.…”

Covid associated mucormycosis of the jaw: Expect the un-expected

“…The use of omics for gaining complete insight into the mycoviruses (viruses that infect fungi) therapy is need of an hour. [5]…”