Abstract
The diversity of fungal spores in air is vast ([1], [2], Figure 1), but research on asthma focuses on a handful of easily identified, culturable species. Ecologists are developing new tools to probe communities and identify the full complement of fungi in habitats. These tools may enable identification of novel asthma triggers, but scientists involved in public health or medicine rarely interact with mycologists focused on ecology. With this primer, my aim is to facilitate communication by providing doctors with a basic, modern guide to spores, by teaching mycologists the essential facts of asthma, and by providing patients with a succinct summary of what is known about spores and asthma. By highlighting the use of emerging metagenomics technologies in ecology, I intend to illustrate how these tools might be used to more thoroughly understand the potential diversity of fungi involved in asthma.
Highlights
The diversity of fungal spores in air is vast ([1,2], Figure 1), but research on asthma focuses on a handful of identified, culturable species
Children with variants of the ADAM33 gene are at risk for asthma [4], while attendance at day care in the first six months of life and the presence of older siblings appear to protect against asthma [5]
The jargon associated with fungal spores is fantastically diverse, but basic aspects of identification hinge on reproductive mode and identification to phylum
Summary
Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America. The diversity of fungal spores in air is vast ([1,2], Figure 1), but research on asthma focuses on a handful of identified, culturable species. Ecologists are developing new tools to probe communities and identify the full complement of fungi in habitats These tools may enable identification of novel asthma triggers, but scientists involved in public health or medicine rarely interact with mycologists focused on ecology. By highlighting the use of emerging metagenomics technologies in ecology, I intend to illustrate how these tools might be used to more thoroughly understand the potential diversity of fungi involved in asthma
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