Citizen science surveillance of triazole-resistant Aspergillus fumigatus in United Kingdom residential garden soils

Shelton, Jennifer M.G. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1429-6845; Collins, Roseanna; Uzzell, Christopher B.; Alghamdi, Asmaa; Dyer, Paul S.; Singer, Andrew C. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4705-6063; Fisher, Matthew C.. 2022 Citizen science surveillance of triazole-resistant Aspergillus fumigatus in United Kingdom residential garden soils. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 88 (4), e02061-21. 12, pp. 10.1128/AEM.02061-21

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Abstract/Summary

Compost is an ecological niche for Aspergillus fumigatus due to its role as a decomposer of organic matter and its ability to survive the high temperatures associated with the composting process. Subsequently, composting facilities are associated with high levels of A. fumigatus spores that are aerosolized from compost and cause respiratory illness in workers. In the UK, gardening is an activity enjoyed by individuals of all ages, and it is likely that they are being exposed to A. fumigatus spores when handling commercial compost or compost they have produced themselves. In the present study, 246 citizen scientists collected 509 soil samples from locations in their gardens in the UK, from which were cultured 5,174 A. fumigatus isolates. Of these isolates, 736 (14%) were resistant to tebuconazole: the third most-sprayed triazole fungicide in the UK, which confers cross-resistance to the medical triazoles used to treat A. fumigatus lung infections in humans. These isolates were found to contain the common resistance mechanisms in the A. fumigatus cyp51A gene TR34/L98H or TR46/Y121F/T289A, as well as the less common resistance mechanisms TR34, TR53, TR46/Y121F/T289A/S363P/I364V/G448S, and (TR46)2/Y121F/M172I/T289A/G448S. Regression analyses found that soil samples containing compost were significantly more likely to grow tebuconazole-susceptible and tebuconazole-resistant A. fumigatus strains than those that did not and that compost samples grew significantly higher numbers of A. fumigatus than other samples.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1128/AEM.02061-21
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Pollution (Science Area 2017-)
ISSN:	0099-2240
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:	Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.
Additional Keywords:	DNA sequencing, drug resistance mechanisms, environmental microbiology, molecular genetics, mycology, public health
NORA Subject Terms:	Health Biology and Microbiology
Date made live:	14 Mar 2022 14:53 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532247

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