Candida Auris is found on surfaces of stored apples in India, according to a DU study

Digital Desk: According to a group of scientists from Delhi University, colonies of the drug-resistant fungus Candida Auris have been discovered on the surfaces of preserved apples in India. Candida Auris is a superbug that has been identified as a global health issue and is known for hiding in hospitals.

The fungus may contaminate fruit surfaces due to numerous preservation procedures aimed at preventing rotting and extending shelf life, according to the researchers in a study published in the journal mBio on March 31.

According to the researchers, the fungus was not seen on the surfaces of fresh apples.

According to the researchers, apples and other fruits are treated with fungicides to avoid rotting. This method, however, has the potential to select C. Auris strains that are resistant to a wide range of fungicides.

Put,' selection' is the evolutionary process by which every creature undergoes genetic mutations constantly. Every advantageous mutation will be handed down to the next generation, whereas mutations that render the organism weak will be eradicated.

In this situation, abuse of a fungicide will wipe out all strains of C. Auris except those that develop a mutation that renders them resistant to the fungicide. As a result, while all other strains are eradicated, these drug-resistant strains thrive.

Previous research has looked at the effect of fungicides on the human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus, which causes disease in people, according to Anuradha Chowdhary, a mycologist at the University of Delhi.

But, she explained, the current research focuses on drug-resistant Candida Auris strains, a pathogenic yeast that spreads swiftly in hospitals and has been isolated from nature. Fungicides used in agriculture could unintentionally select drug-resistant fungi, according to Chowdhary.

While the new data indicates that apples may play a role in C. Auris transmission, Chowdhary underlined that the general consumer does not need to be concerned about contracting C. Auris by eating apples.

"Ingestion does not spread C. Auris. "It causes bloodstream infections in immunocompromised individuals in intensive care units with invasive gadgets," she explained.

Although the study has no implications on the fungus transmission to consumers, it remains important to know how fungi like these spread and how they reach hospital settings where patients are more vulnerable to it.

C. Auris and other yeasts were screened on the surfaces of 84 fruits representing nine different tree fruit varieties.

C. Auris was originally discovered in Japan in 2009, and experts have been trying to figure out where the infection comes from and how it spreads since then.

In a statement, Jianping Xu of McMaster University in Ontario, who co-led the study, stated, "We still don't truly understand the mechanisms that drive the simultaneous formation of numerous separate genetic clusters of C. Auris."

C. Auris was isolated for the first time from a natural setting — the marshes and sandy beaches of a natural coastal ecosystem in the Andamans.

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