The Malassezia epidemiology and pathobiology working group aims to bridge fundamental and clinical Malassezia research, and to bring together the growing global field of scientists interested in Malassezia. It is our ambition to increase our visibility and provide a platform for frequent scientist interactions to push the field of Malassezia research forward.
For the Malassezia working group, the year 2023 was a transitional year with some changes in the coordinator team. Teun Boekhout retired as chair, and was succeeded by Bart Theelen. Annika Scheynius also retired from the coordinator team and Claudia Cafarchia joined. While new plans for the working group were brainstormed, the organizational changes shifted their implementation to the future. After nearly 25 years at the Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute in the Netherlands, Bart Theelen moved to the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the Medical School of the University of Minnesota, USA. This move will offer many new opportunities for Malassezia research with a more clinical focus.
Several scientific papers were published by members of the working group, dealing with a variety of topics. A study exploring the evolution of mitochondria and another analyzing the evolution of mating-loci of the genus also contributed to the availability of high quality mitochondrial and nuclear genomes for all described species, providing an invaluable resource for future Malassezia research. Other studies added to our understanding of Malassezia pathobiology, exemplified by a study on Mala s 1 allergen in Malassezia sympodialis, and another exploring the role of Malassezia restricta-induced lipoperoxides in dandruff. The team of Claudia Cafarchia published two reviews covering our understanding of the role of Malassezia spp. in skin disorders. Bart Theelen concluded his PhD-research on Malassezia, resulting in a thesis with the title “Evolving genotypes: The multiple faces of Malassezia furfur”, comprising a number of published papers and a few chapters to be published as research papers soon. One of the themes in his thesis was how evolutionary mechanisms like hybridization and subspecies variation may impact virulence differences at the strain level.
A Malassezia symposium is planned to take place as part of the 2025 ISHAM Congress in Iguaçu Falls, Brazil.
PhD Thesis Bart Theelen: https://dare.uva.nl/search?
Coelho, M.A., Ianiri, G., David-Palma, M., Theelen, B., Goyal, R., Narayanan, A., Sanyal, K., Boekhout, T., Heitman, J. (2023) Genetic and genomic analysis of Malassezia reveals transitions in mating-type locus chromosomal organization and early steps in sexual reproduction. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.I 120 (32) e2305094120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.
Christinaki, A.C.*, Theelen, B.*, Zania, A., Coutinho, S.D.A., Cabañes, F.J., Boekhout, T., Kouvelis, V.N. (2023) Co-evolution of Large inverted repeats and G-quadruplex DNA in fungal mitochondria may facilitate mitogenome stability: the case of Malassezia. Sci. Rep. 13, 6308. https://doi.org/10.1038/
Rathie, B., Theelen, B., Laurence, M., Shapiro, R.S. (2023) Antimicrobial susceptibility testing for three Malassezia species. Microbiol Spectr. 64(11):661-668. https://doi.org/10.1128/
Kathrani, A., Theelen, B. Bond, R. (2023) Malassezia yeasts are a component of the duodenal mycobiota of dogs with gastrointestinal disease. J Small Anim Pract. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsap.
Corzo Leon, D. E., Scheynius, A., MacCallum, D. M., & Munro, C. A. (2023). Malassezia sympodialis Malas1 allergen is a potential KELCH protein that cross reacts with human skin. FEMS yeast research, 23, foad028. https://doi.org/10.1093/
Ugochukwu, I. C. I., Rhimi, W., Chebil, W., Rizzo, A., Tempesta, M., Giusiano, G., Tábora, R. F. M., Otranto, D., & Cafarchia, C. (2023). Part 1: Understanding the role of Malassezia spp. in skin disorders: Malassezia yeasts as commensal or pathogenic organisms of human and animal skin. Expert review of anti-infective therapy, 21(12), 1327–1338. https://doi.org/10.1080/
Ugochukwu, I. C. I., Rhimi, W., Chebil, W., Rizzo, A., Tempesta, M., Giusiano, G., Tábora, R. F. M., Otranto, D., & Cafarchia, C. (2023). Part 2: Understanding the role of Malassezia spp. in skin disorders: pathogenesis of Malassezia associated skin infections. Expert review of anti-infective therapy, 21(11), 1245–1257. https://doi.org/10.1080/
Jourdain, R., Moga, A., Magiatis, P., Fontanié, M., Velegraki, A., Papadimou, C., Rahoul, V., Guéniche, A., Chopra, T., & Gaitanis, G. (2023). Malassezia restricta-mediated Lipoperoxidation: A Novel Trigger in Dandruff. Acta dermato-venereologica, 103, adv00868. https://doi.org/10.2340/
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