title: Opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida glabrata circulates between humans and yellow-legged gulls.
abstract: The opportunistic pathogenic yeast Candida glabrata is a component of the mycobiota of both humans and yellow-legged gulls that is prone to develop fluconazole resistance. Whether gulls are a reservoir of the yeast and facilitate the dissemination of human C. glabrata strains remains an open question. In this study, MLVA genotyping highlighted the lack of genetic structure of 190 C. glabrata strains isolated from either patients in three hospitals or fecal samples collected from gull breeding colonies located in five distinct areas along the French Mediterranean littoral. Fluconazole-resistant isolates were evenly distributed between both gull and human populations. These findings demonstrate that gulls are a reservoir of this species and facilitate the diffusion of C. glabrata and indirect transmission to human or animal hosts via environmental contamination. This eco-epidemiological view, which can be applied to other vertebrate host species, broadens our perspective regarding the reservoirs and dissemination patterns of antifungal-resistant human pathogenic yeast.
authors: Aix-Marseille Univ, IP-TPT UMR MD3, 13885 Marseille, France.
authors: Mohammed Hashim
authors: MH
authors: Al-Yasiri
authors: APHM, CHU Timone, Laboratory of Parasitology - Mycology, 13005 Marseille, France.
authors: Anne-Cécile
authors: AC
authors: Normand
authors: Aix-Marseille Univ, IP-TPT UMR MD3, 13885 Marseille, France.|APHM, CHU Timone, Laboratory of Parasitology - Mycology, 13005 Marseille, France.
authors: Coralie
authors: C
authors: L'Ollivier
authors: CHU de Montpellier, Département de Parasitologie-Mycologie, Montpellier, France.|Faculté de Médecine de Montpellier-Nîmes, Nîmes, France.
authors: Laurence
authors: L
authors: Lachaud
authors: CHU de Montpellier, Département de Parasitologie-Mycologie, Montpellier, France.
authors: Nathalie
authors: N
authors: Bourgeois
authors: Aix-Marseille Univ, IP-TPT UMR MD3, 13885 Marseille, France.
authors: Stanislas
authors: S
authors: Rebaudet
authors: Aix-Marseille Univ, IP-TPT UMR MD3, 13885 Marseille, France.|APHM, CHU Timone, Laboratory of Parasitology - Mycology, 13005 Marseille, France.
authors: Renaud
authors: R
authors: Piarroux
authors: Aix-Marseille Univ, IRD, Laboratoire Population Environnement Développement (LPED), UMR-151, Marseille, France.
authors: Jean-François
authors: JF
authors: Mauffrey
authors: Aix-Marseille Univ, IP-TPT UMR MD3, 13885 Marseille, France.|APHM, CHU Timone, Laboratory of Parasitology - Mycology, 13005 Marseille, France.
authors: Stéphane
authors: S
authors: Ranque
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000635:transmission; D041221:Candida glabrata / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002177:Candidiasis / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000635:transmission; D046091:Charadriiformes / Q000382:microbiology*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D025141:Drug Resistance, Fungal / Q000187:drug effects; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D015725:Fluconazole / Q000494:pharmacology; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D015725:Fluconazole