Epidemiology and Evolution of Fungal Pathogens in Plants and Animals

About 100,000 species of fungi have been described so far, of which a high percentage obtain nutrients by living in close association with other organisms, mainly plants. Many fungi are pathogenic and can have important impact on human health or lead to severe economic losses due to infected crops or to animal diseases. In this chapter, we describe the main pathogenic fungi, parasitizing humans, animals, and plants, and having important consequences on human health or human activities. We focus on some examples of emerging fungal diseases, of humans, animals, and plants. We then review (1) the modern molecular tools used for epidemiology and population genetics of fungal pathogens, the types of markers most useful, and the different types of analyses that can be performed to unravel their mating systems and dispersal; and (2) the advances since 2000s in fungal genomics, in particular the insights that have been gained so far regarding the pathogenic lifestyles.

Duke Scholars

Author Joseph Heitman Molecular Genetics and Microbiology