Research Questions/Hypotheses
The management of plant diseases heavily relies on bactericides, fungicides, and other pesticides, and residues of their active ingredients can remain on plants and in the environment. The use of streptomycin, oxytetracycline, copper-based products, and some fungicides has led to plant pathogens becoming resistant to these treatments, highlighting that microbes can adapt to these substances. Aspergillus fumigatus, which is causing aspergillosis in humans, is becoming increasingly resistant to triazole fungicides, causing alarm in Europe. Aim of this thesis project will be to (i) isolate and characterize fungicide resistant fungi from agricultural and natural soils using cultivation- and DNA-based approaches specifically focusing on thermotolerant saprobes including known putative human pathogens, (ii) compare prevalence and incidence of fungicide resistant fungi in the environment to establish the reservoir of these fungi and to evaluate their pathogenic potential for humans and warm blooded animals, (iii) to correlate fungal CFUs, ASVs, fungicide traces to identify environmental conditions specifically favourable for the establishment of emerging azole resistant thermotolerant fungi.
Approach/Methods
Building on an extensive existing strain collection of more than 200 fungal isolates from agricultural and natural soils at the UIBK we will experimentally determine fungal taxa which are specifically prone to posess or develop fungicide resistance. Furthermore, isolates and ASVs will be categorized by applying a trait based selection system to identify fungi of specific relevance using a gradient from human, animal, plant pathogenic to saprotrophic fungi. Additionally, fungal genes which are typical for fungicide resistance will analyzed using an amplicon based approach to estimate the variability of these genes in the environment.
