Crossing Kingdoms: How the Mycobiota and Fungal-Bacterial Interactions Impact Host Health and Disease

The term microbiota invokes images of mucosal surfaces densely populated with bacteria. These surfaces and the luminal compartments they form indeed predominantly harbor bacteria. However, research from this past decade has started to complete the picture by focusing on important but largely neglected constituents of the microbiota: fungi, viruses, and archaea. The community of commensal fungi, also called the mycobiota, interacts with commensal bacteria and the host. It is thus not surprising that changes in the mycobiota have significant impact on host health and are associated with pathological conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In this review we will give an overview of why the mycobiota is an important research area and different mycobiota research tools. We will specifically focus on distinguishing transient and actively colonizing fungi of the oral and gut mycobiota and their roles in health and disease. In addition to correlative and observational studies, we will discuss mechanistic studies on specific cross-kingdom interactions of fungi, bacteria, and the host.

Automated summary

Research has shown that the microbiota includes not only bacteria, but also fungi, viruses, and archaea. The commensal fungal community, or mycobiota, plays a significant role in host health and is associated with pathological conditions like inflammatory bowel disease. Therefore, studying the mycobiota is crucial for a comprehensive understanding of host-microbe interactions.