The Interkingdom Interaction with < em > Staphylococcus < /em > Influences the Antifungal Susceptibility of the Cutaneous Fungus Malassezia

This study investigated how the interaction between Malassezia and Staphylococcus affected the antifungal susceptibility of the fungus to the azole antifungal drug ketoconazole. The susceptibility was significantly decreased when Malassezia was co-cultured with Staphylococcus. We found that acidification of the environment by organic acids produced by Staphylococcus influenced the decrease of the ketoconazole susceptibility of M. restricta in the co-culturing condition. Furthermore, our data demonstrated that the significant increased ergosterol content and cell membrane and wall thickness of the M. restricta cells grown in the acidic environment may be the main cause of the altered azole susceptibility of the fungus. Overall, our study suggests that the interaction between Malassezia and Staphylococcus influences the antifungal susceptibility of the fungus and that pH has a critical role in the polymicrobial interaction in the skin environment.PMID:36575858 | DOI:10.4014/jmb.2210.10039
Source: Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology - Category: Biotechnology Authors: Source Type: research