Fungal Diversity in the Gut Microbiome of Healthy Mice Exposed to Fungicide
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24086/cuesj.v10n1y2026.pp74-79Keywords:
Fungicide, mycobiome, gut microbiome, metalaxyl-M, azoxystrobin, internal transcribed spacer sequencingAbstract
Pesticide use is widespread in agricultural systems in Iraq, raising concerns about their potential impact on the gut mycobiome. This study investigated how residues of a fungicide containing metalaxyl-M and azoxystrobin affect the gut fungal microbiome using a mouse model. Thirty 12-week-old male Swiss albino mice (Mus musculus) weighing 30–40 g were divided into two groups: a control group (n=15) fed a regular diet and a treatment group (n=15) fed the same diet supplemented with 10 ppm of fungicide. Due to high inter-individual variation observed in preliminary analysis and cost constraints, fecal samples from mice within each group were pooled (5 pools per group, 3 mice per pool) prior to DNA extraction, effectively resulting in n=5 biological replicates per group for sequencing. Metagenetic libraries of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) gene were generated and analyzed using QIIME2, DESeq2, DECIPHER, and Phangorn. A total of 191 amplicon sequence variants of fungal taxa were identified across all samples. The bioinformatic analysis revealed that the gut fungal community was significantly altered by fungicide treatment. Some species were enriched, including uncultured Nakazawaea and Neosartorya hiratsukae, and others were reduced, including Trichomonascus ciferrii, Alternaria conjuncta, and Ophiostoma canum. This study reveals that fungicides used in Iraq have profound effects on gut microbiome communities in mice, and it is recommended to pursue these aspects towards the further development of a research agenda focused on the health implications of dietary fungicide exposure and also on the methods of minimization.
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