Screening of Candida spp. in wastewater in Brazil: Workflow for monitoring as strategy of One Health approach

Abstract

Abstract The increase in global temperature, caused by the release of greenhouse gases, favors the pathogenic potential of fungi that, by adapting to higher temperatures in the environment, developed tolerance to the temperatures of mammals. Fungal diseases are frequently associated to poverty and, consequently, precarious conditions of hygiene and sanitation, extremely impaired by COVID-19 pandemics. Additionally, COVID-19 patients can develop a diffuse alveolar damage with severe inflammatory exudation. Dexamethasone, a corticosteroid largely used in the treatment of COVID-19, promotes an immunosuppression profile that facilitates the infection by opportunistic fungi, as Candida spp. In this work, we analyzed the prevalence of Candida yeasts in wastewater samples collected for tracking viral genetical material during COVID-19 pandemic. For this, yeasts obtained were identified by polyphasic taxonomy. Subsequently, the production of biofilm and hydrolytic enzymes, which are well-known virulence attributes, were investigated. Our results showed that all Candida spp. were able to form biofilm and had moderate activity to produce hydrolytic enzymes. We also proposed a workflow for monitoring wastewater with the use of Colony PCR in instead of conventional PCR, since this technique is fast, cheap inexpensive and reliable, improving an accurate on taxonomy identification of yeast in environmental samples, contributing to environmental monitoring as part of the One Health approach.