The Pathomycosphere: A Spatially Defined Framework in Pathogen Ecology

Clicks: 10
ID: 333215
2026
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
Emerging

Ranked #110 of 112 articles by views in FEMS microbiology reviews

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
Abstract Fungal pathogens have historically been studied as autonomous agents, as self-contained units independent of their associated microbiota, with disease outcomes attributed to fungal virulence factors acting on susceptible hosts. However, many pathogenic fungi harbor bacterial associates that influence their ecology, persistence and virulence. The pathobiome concept addressed this limitation by framing disease as an outcome of multi-kingdom interactions. Yet most pathobiome studies rely on correlative analyses of microbial abundances with pathogens, lacking spatial resolution to identify which microorganisms physically interact with pathogenic structures. Conversely, the hyphosphere provides micrometer-scale spatial resolution but has been investigated predominantly in non-pathogenic fungi. Here, we propose the pathomycosphere as a spatially defined and experimentally tractable subset of the pathobiome: a hypha-associated microbial assemblage in which physical association with the pathogenic member, prolonged or transient has a consequence for the pathogen’s biology, with pathogenicity residing in the fungus, an associated microorganism or their interaction. This framework bridges the pathobiome and hyphosphere concepts by anchoring disease-associated microbial interactions to hyphal interface, where mechanistic investigation becomes feasible. Pathomycosphere provides operational tractability to explore microbial partnerships contributing to pathogenesis, and positions fungal-associated bacterial consortia as important components of pathogen biology with relevance to disease ecology beyond agricultural systems.
Reference Key
openalex_W7223084356 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Gayan Abeysinghe, Sanjay Antony‐Babu
Are you one of these authors? Claim your profile
Journal FEMS microbiology reviews
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/femsre/fuag054
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/femsre/fuag054
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.