Czech White-Nose Syndrome Team together with international collaborators discovered mechanisms of tolerance that protect Palearctic bats from white-nose syndrome (WNS), the disease that caused mass die-off in North America. The discovery raises hope for a better future of bats in North American ecosystems. White-nose syndrome (WNS) is caused by a generalist pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans with the worst possible characteristics of an infectious fungal agent. The generalist nature of the WNS fungus means that it can infect any bat hibernating in a contaminated cave or mine and, moreover, it may remain viable and virulent, waiting for its hosts until the next hibernation period. Harmless to humans, the WNS fungus kills hibernating North American bats in winter. However, loss of voracious insectivorous bats from agricultural ecosystems may result in economic costs required for increased pest control. Without mass die-offs of bats harbouring the WNS agent in Europe, the response to disease is an enigma. To study the survival crossroads, the Czech WNS Team focused on the relationship between pathogen quantity and disease under natural conditions. High disease prevalence together with high fungal loads in absence of bat population declines in Eurasia indicates disease tolerance mechanisms, where hosts limit harm inflicted by the pathogen but do not hinder its growth. The tolerance mechanisms revealed by the Czech WNS Team is a function of bat adaptation to the presence of the pathogen. and Natália Martínková.
Filamentous microscopic fungi (moulds, predominantly from the phylum Ascomycota), a very diverse and versatile group of organisms, are able to colonize any kind of substrate. This article presents a short survey of some microfungi inhabiting our households. Examples are given of toxigenic fungi, xerophiles, psychrophiles, necrotrophs and sugar fungi. and Alena Kubátová.
Filamentous fungi are frequently isolated from body surface of the patients with suspected dermatomycosis. They may act as human pathogens, but in numerous ca - ses the significance of isolated fungus must be verified by additional investigations. The medically important fungi form a highly diverse and heterogenous group. Our often only limited knowledge of their biology is rapidly expanding particularly due to the development of new and improved methods of molecular biology., Vít Hubka, Naďa Mallátová., and 8 barev. fot.