'My dishwasher is trying to kill me'

New research finds harmful fungal pathogens living in dishwasher seals

2011-06-21

(Press-News.org) Oxford, June 20, 2011 - A potentially pathogenic fungus has found a home living in extreme conditions in some of the most common household appliances, researchers have found. A new paper published in the British Mycological Society journal, Fungal Biology, published by Elsevier, shows that these sites make perfect habitats for extremotolerant fungi (which includes black yeasts). Some of these are potentially dangerous to human health.

Modern living comes with an increasing need for electrical household equipment such as dishwashers, washing machines and coffee machines. A characteristic of these appliances is a moist and hot environment. In the case of dishwashers, high temperatures between 60º to 80ºC are intermittently produced and aggressive detergents and high concentrations of salt are used in each washing cycle.

The article focuses on the occurrence of potentially pathogenic fungal flora located in dishwashers, over a sample of private homes from 101 cities on 6 continents. 62% of the dishwashers contained fungi on the rubber band in door, 56% of which accommodated the polyextremotolerant black yeasts Exophiala dermatitidis and E. phaeomuriformis. Both Exophiala species showed remarkable tolerance to heat, high salt concentrations, aggressive detergents, and to both acid and alkaline water. This is a combination of extreme properties not previously observed in fungi.

Exophiala dermatitidis is rarely isolated from nature, but is frequently encountered as an agent of human disease, both in compromised and healthy people. It is also known to be involved in pulmonary colonization of patients with cystic fibrosis, and also occasionally causes fatal infections in healthy humans. The invasion of black yeasts into our homes represents a potential health risk.

The discovery of this widespread presence of extremophilic fungi in some of our common household appliances suggests that these organisms have embarked on an extraordinary evolutionary process that could pose a significant risk to human health in the future. ### The article, "Dishwashers – A man-made ecological niche accommodating human opportunistic fungal pathogens" by P. Zalar, M. Novak, G.S. de Hoog and N. Gunde-Cimerman appears in the journal, Fungal Biology (doi:10.1016/j.funbio.2011.04.007).

Notes for Editors Full text of the article is available to credentialed journalists upon request; contact newsroom@elsevier.com. Journalists wishing to interview the author may contact Nina Gunde-Cimerman, at nina.gunde-cimerman@bf.uni-lj.si. Full article citation: P. Zalar, M. Novak, G.S. de Hoog, N. Gunde-Cimerman, Dishwashers - A man-made ecological niche accommodating human opportunistic fungal pathogens, Fungal Biology, In Press, Corrected Proof, ISSN 1878-6146, DOI: 10.1016/j.funbio.2011.04.007.

About Fungal Biology Fungal Biology ( www.elsevier.com/locate/funbio) is a journal of British Mycological Society. Fungal Biology is the international research journal of the British Mycological Society. Fungal Biology publishes original contributions in all fields of basic and applied research involving fungi and fungus-like organisms (including filamentous fungi, yeasts, lichen fungi, oomycetes, and slime moulds). These fields include biochemistry, biodeterioration, biotechnology, cell biology, developmental biology, disease control, ecology, environment, evolution, fungal physiology, genetics, genomics, geomycology, insect pathology, medical mycology, molecular genetics, mutualistic interactions, physiology, plant pathology, secondary metabolites, taxonomy and systematics, and techniques.

About Elsevier Elsevier is a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include SciVerse ScienceDirect, SciVerse Scopus, Reaxys, MD Consult and Nursing Consult, which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite and MEDai's Pinpoint Review, which help research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.

A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, a world-leading publisher and information provider, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

News tips from the July issue of the American Naturalist

2011-06-21

When a bad mimic is good Nature is full of mimics—creatures that have evolved to look or act like other more dangerous animals. However, some mimics imitate their models more convincingly than others, and new research helps explain why it sometimes pays to be a bad mimic. The research looked at three species of spider, all of which mimic, with varying degrees of accuracy, aggressive and bad-tasting ants. All of the mimics were good at avoiding being eaten by predators that target spiders, the research found. But the less accurate mimics also had a spider-like ability ...

EARTH: Endangered snow: How climate change threatens west coast water supplies

2011-06-21

Alexandria, VA – From Seattle to Los Angeles, anywhere from 50 to 80 percent of the water people use comes from mountain snow. Snow falls in the mountains in the winter, where it's stored as snowpack until spring and summer when it flows down the mountains into reservoirs. It's a clean, reliable source of water. But soon, it may become less dependable, thanks to climate change. In the July feature "Endangered Snow: How climate change threatens West Coast water supplies," EARTH Magazine looks at how climate change could disrupt the balance of water and snow in the mountains, ...

Discovery of parathyroid glow promises to reduce endocrine surgery risk

2011-06-21

The parathyroid glands – four small organs the size of grains of rice located at the back of the throat – glow with a natural fluorescence in the near infrared region of the spectrum. This unique fluorescent signature was discovered by a team of biomedical engineers and endocrine surgeons at Vanderbilt University, who have used it as the basis of a simple and reliable optical detector that can positively identify the parathyroid glands during endocrine surgery. The report of the discovery of parathyroid fluorescence and the design of the optical detector was published ...

Panic symptoms increase steadily, not acutely, after stressful event

2011-06-21

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Just like everyone else, people with panic disorder have real stress in their lives. They get laid off and they fight with their spouses. How such stresses affect their panic symptoms hasn't been well understood, but a new study by researchers at Brown University presents the counterintuitive finding that certain kinds of stressful life events cause panic symptoms to increase gradually over succeeding months, rather than to spike immediately. "We definitely expected the symptoms to get worse over time, but we also thought the symptoms ...

Signaling pathway is 'executive software' of airway stem cells

2011-06-21

DURHAM, NC – Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have found out how mouse basal cells that line airways "decide" to become one of two types of cells that assist in airway-clearing duties. The findings could help provide new therapies for either blocked or thinned airways. "Our work has identified the Notch signaling pathway as a central regulatory 'switch' that controls the differentiation of airway basal stem cells," said Jason Rock, Ph.D., lead author and postdoctoral researcher in Brigid Hogan's cell biology laboratory. "Studies like ours will enhance efforts ...

Fat substitutes linked to weight gain

2011-06-21

WASHINGTON — Synthetic fat substitutes used in low-calorie potato chips and other foods could backfire and contribute to weight gain and obesity, according to a study published by the American Psychological Association. The study, by researchers at Purdue University, challenges the conventional wisdom that foods made with fat substitutes help with weight loss. "Our research showed that fat substitutes can interfere with the body's ability to regulate food intake, which can lead to inefficient use of calories and weight gain," said Susan E. Swithers, PhD, the lead researcher ...

The myth of the 'queen bee': Work and sexism

2011-06-21

Female bosses sometimes have a reputation for not being very nice. Some display what's called "queen bee" behavior, distancing themselves from other women and refusing to help other women as they rise through the ranks. Now, a new study, which will be published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, concludes that it's wrong to blame the woman for this behavior; instead, blame the sexist environment. Belle Derks of Leiden University in the Netherlands has done a lot of research on how people respond to sexism. ...

Discoveries in mitochondria open new field of cancer research

2011-06-21

Richmond, Va. (June 20, 2011) – Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center have revealed novel mechanisms in mitochondria that have implications for cancer as well as many other age-related diseases such as Parkinson's disease, heart disease and hypertension. This discovery has pioneered the formation of a whole new field within epigenetics research ripe with possibilities of developing future gene therapies to treat cancer and age-associated diseases. Shirley M. Taylor, Ph.D., researcher at VCU Massey Cancer Center and associate professor in ...

Northern Illinois University scientists find simple way to produce graphene

2011-06-21

DeKalb, Ill. – Scientists at Northern Illinois University say they have discovered a simple method for producing high yields of graphene, a highly touted carbon nanostructure that some believe could replace silicon as the technological fabric of the future. The focus of intense scientific research in recent years, graphene is a two-dimensional material, comprised of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. It is the strongest material ever measured and has other remarkable qualities, including high electron mobility, a property that elevates its ...

Genius of Einstein, Fourier key to new humanlike computer vision

2011-06-21

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Two new techniques for computer-vision technology mimic how humans perceive three-dimensional shapes by instantly recognizing objects no matter how they are twisted or bent, an advance that could help machines see more like people. The techniques, called heat mapping and heat distribution, apply mathematical methods to enable machines to perceive three-dimensional objects, said Karthik Ramani, Purdue University's Donald W. Feddersen Professor of Mechanical Engineering. "Humans can easily perceive 3-D shapes, but it's not so easy for a computer," ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Research shows how Dust Bowl-type drought causes unprecedented productivity loss

Non-hibernating pikas' protein restriction tweaks their gut microbiome to help them survive the winter, when winter-active herbivores often struggle to find dietary protein

New study finds large fluctuations in sea level occurred throughout the last ice age, a significant shift in understanding of past climate

Ganoderma lucidum alleviates high-fat diet-induced hepatic lipotoxicity via modulating the unfolded protein response and endoplasmic reticulum-phagy

Circularly polarized luminescence enhancement in rare-earth MOFs due to framework chirality and host–guest energy transfer

Nickel-substituted polyoxometalate-CdS single-cluster photocatalysts for efficient plastic waste degradation coupled with H2 production

Polyoxometalate hybrid comb-like crosslinked polymer networks for anhydrous proton conductors

A research team at the Universitat Jaume I creates a robotic platform with artificial intelligence to accelerate the transition to a sustainable industry

Binghamton University researchers use nanotubes to improve blood flow in bioengineered tissues

Elizabeth Haines, DO, MSc, FACEP, appointed Chief Operating Officer of Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital and Senior Vice President of Pediatric Services, Mount Sinai Health System