{"title":"How do bacteria recognize fungal competitors?","authors":"Lingfang Zhu, Changfu Li, Xihui Shen","doi":"10.1016/j.tim.2026.06.005","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Bacterial-fungal interactions (BFIs) are central to microbial community dynamics in diverse ecosystems, with profound implications for medicine, agriculture, and environmental microbiology. A critical yet unresolved question in BFIs is how bacteria specifically detect and respond to fungal competitors. This review synthesizes recent advances in this field, focusing on four integrated strategies that bacteria employ to recognize fungi: (i) sensing conserved fungal cell wall-derived microbe-associated molecular patterns; (ii) eavesdropping on fungal chemical signals, including quorum-sensing molecules and volatile organic compounds; (iii) contact-dependent recognition via chemotaxis, biofilm adhesion, and specialized secretion systems; and (iv) indirect recognition through resource competition. These mechanisms highlight the sophistication of interkingdom communication and its translational potential in managing polymicrobial infections and engineering biocontrol systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":23275,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Microbiology","volume":" ","pages":"989-1002"},"PeriodicalIF":18.7000,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Trends in Microbiology","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tim.2026.06.005","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2026/7/15 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Bacterial-fungal interactions (BFIs) are central to microbial community dynamics in diverse ecosystems, with profound implications for medicine, agriculture, and environmental microbiology. A critical yet unresolved question in BFIs is how bacteria specifically detect and respond to fungal competitors. This review synthesizes recent advances in this field, focusing on four integrated strategies that bacteria employ to recognize fungi: (i) sensing conserved fungal cell wall-derived microbe-associated molecular patterns; (ii) eavesdropping on fungal chemical signals, including quorum-sensing molecules and volatile organic compounds; (iii) contact-dependent recognition via chemotaxis, biofilm adhesion, and specialized secretion systems; and (iv) indirect recognition through resource competition. These mechanisms highlight the sophistication of interkingdom communication and its translational potential in managing polymicrobial infections and engineering biocontrol systems.
期刊介绍：
Trends in Microbiology serves as a comprehensive, multidisciplinary forum for discussing various aspects of microbiology, spanning cell biology, immunology, genetics, evolution, virology, bacteriology, protozoology, and mycology. In the rapidly evolving field of microbiology, technological advancements, especially in genome sequencing, impact prokaryote biology from pathogens to extremophiles, influencing developments in drugs, vaccines, and industrial enzyme research.
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