Summary
Prof Matthew Fisher works on emerging pathogenic fungi. His research uses an evolutionary framework to investigate the biological and environmental factors that are driving emerging fungal diseases across human, wildlife and plant species. Wildlife and their environments play a key role in the emergence of human emerging infectious disease (EID) by providing a 'zoonotic pool' from which previously unknown pathogens emerge. Conversely, human action impacts on patterns of fungal disease via the perturbation of natural systems, the introduction, and the spread of pathogenic fungi into naive environments, and by rapid natural selection for phenotypes such as resistance to antimicrobial drugs. These interactions are leading to an upswing of new fungal infections in new places, causing new (and exacerbating old) human diseases. Matthew Fisher’s research group is focused on research using genomic, epidemiological, ecological and experimental analysis to uncover the factors driving these EIDs, and to attempt to develop new methods of diagnosis and control.
Matthew Fisher is a CIFAR fellow on the programme 'Fungal Kingdom: Threats and Opportunities' and leads the 'Fungal Pathogens' theme in the 'MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis'. He is co-director of the Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet.
Our laboratory website can be found at http://www.fisherlab.co.uk
@fisher_mat
@ChytridCrisis
@fisher_lab
Selected Publications
Journal Articles
Rhodes J, 2022, Population genomics confirms acquisition of drug resistant Aspergillus fumigatus infection by humans from the environment, Nature Microbiology, Vol:7, ISSN:2058-5276
Fisher MC, Alastruey-Izquierdo A, Berman J, et al., 2022, Tackling the emerging threat of antifungal resistance to human health, Nature Reviews Microbiology, Vol:20, ISSN:1740-1526, Pages:557-571
Fisher MC, Garner TWJ, 2020, Chytrid fungi and global amphibian declines, Nature Reviews Microbiology, Vol:18, ISSN:1740-1526, Pages:332-343
Scheele BC, Pasmans F, Skerratt LF, et al., 2019, Amphibian fungal panzootic causes catastrophic and ongoing loss of biodiversity, Science, Vol:363, ISSN:0036-8075, Pages:1459-1463
O'Hanlon SJ, Rieux A, Farrer RA, et al., 2018, Recent Asian origin of chytrid fungi causing global amphibian declines, Science, Vol:360, ISSN:0036-8075, Pages:621-+
Bates K, Clare F, O'Hanlon S, et al., 2018, Amphibian chytridiomycosis outbreak dynamics are linked with host skin bacterial community structure, Nature Communications, Vol:9, ISSN:2041-1723
Farrer RA, Fisher MC, 2017, Describing Genomic and Epigenomic Traits Underpinning Emerging Fungal Pathogens., Advances in Genetics, Vol:100, ISSN:0065-2660, Pages:73-140
Martel A, Blooi M, Adriaensen C, et al., 2014, Recent introduction of a chytrid fungus endangers Western Palearctic salamanders, Science, Vol:346, ISSN:0036-8075, Pages:630-631
Schmeller DS, Blooi M, Martel A, et al., 2014, Microscopic Aquatic Predators Strongly Affect Infection Dynamics of a Globally Emerged Pathogen, Current Biology, Vol:24, ISSN:0960-9822, Pages:176-180
Martel A, Spitzen-van der Sluijs A, Blooi M, et al., 2013, Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans sp nov causes lethal chytridiomycosis in amphibians, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol:110, ISSN:0027-8424, Pages:15325-15329
Farrer RA, Henk DA, Garner TWJ, et al., 2013, Chromosomal Copy Number Variation, Selection and Uneven Rates of Recombination Reveal Cryptic Genome Diversity Linked to Pathogenicity, Plos Genetics, Vol:9, ISSN:1553-7404
Henk DA, Shahar-Golan R, Devi KR, et al., 2012, Clonality Despite Sex: The Evolution of Host-Associated Sexual Neighborhoods in the Pathogenic Fungus Penicillium marneffei, PLOS Pathogens, Vol:8, ISSN:1553-7366
Fisher MC, Henk DA, Briggs C, et al., 2012, Emerging fungal threats to animal, plant and ecosystem health., Nature, Pages:186-194
Farrer RA, Weinert LA, Bielby J, et al., 2011, Multiple emergences of genetically diverse amphibian-infecting chytrids include a globalized hypervirulent recombinant lineage, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol:108, ISSN:0027-8424, Pages:18732-18736
Henk DA, Eagle CE, Brown K, et al., 2011, Speciation despite globally overlapping distributions in Penicillium chrysogenum: the population genetics of Alexander Fleming's lucky fungus, Molecular Ecology, Vol:20, ISSN:0962-1083, Pages:4288-4301
Simwami SP, Khayhan K, Henk DA, et al., 2011, Low Diversity Cryptococcus neoformans Variety grubii Multilocus Sequence Types from Thailand Are Consistent with an Ancestral African Origin, PLOS Pathogens, Vol:7, ISSN:1553-7366
Walker SF, Bosch J, Gomez V, et al., 2010, Factors driving pathogenicity vs. prevalence of amphibian panzootic chytridiomycosis in Iberia, Ecology Letters, Vol:13, ISSN:1461-023X, Pages:372-382
James TY, Litvintseva AP, Vilgalys R, et al., 2009, Rapid Global Expansion of the Fungal Disease Chytridiomycosis into Declining and Healthy Amphibian Populations, PLOS Pathogens, Vol:5, ISSN:1553-7366
Fisher MC, Bosch J, Yin Z, et al., 2009, Proteomic and phenotypic profiling of the amphibian pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis shows that genotype is linked to virulence, Molecular Ecology, Vol:18, ISSN:0962-1083, Pages:415-429
Fisher MC, Garner TWJ, Walker SF, 2009, Global Emergence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and Amphibian Chytridiomycosis in Space, Time, and Host, Annual Review of Microbiology, Vol:63, ISSN:0066-4227, Pages:291-310
Fisher MC, 2008, Molecular toolkit unlocks life cycle of the panzootic amphibian pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol:105, ISSN:0027-8424, Pages:17209-17210
Walker SF, Bosch J, James TY, et al., 2008, Invasive pathogens threaten species recovery programs, Current Biology, Vol:18, ISSN:0960-9822, Pages:R853-R854
Fisher MC, Hanage WP, de Hoog S, et al., 2005, Low effective dispersal of asexual genotypes in heterogeneous landscapes by the endemic pathogen Penicillium marneffei, PLOS Pathogens, Vol:1, ISSN:1553-7366, Pages:159-165
Fisher MC, Rannala B, Chaturvedi V, et al., 2002, Disease surveillance in recombining pathogens: Multilocus genotypes identify sources of human Coccidioides infections, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol:99, ISSN:0027-8424, Pages:9067-9071
Fisher MC, Koenig GL, White TJ, et al., 2001, Biogeographic range expansion into South America by Coccidioides immitis mirrors New World patterns of human migration, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol:98, ISSN:0027-8424, Pages:4558-4562