{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T17:47:46Z","timestamp":1789753666843,"version":"4.0.1"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,30]]},"group-title":"Microbiology","reference-count":56,"publisher":"openRxiv","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,30]],"date-time":"2025-04-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1745971200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,6]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>\n                  Naturalized, wilded, wildling, and dirty\/pet store mouse models represent a spectrum of approaches designed to make laboratory mice more immunologically and physiologically similar to wild or human contexts by increasing their exposure to naturally occurring microbes and pathogens. In this study, we screened the gut mycobiome of pet store mice, and identified\n                  <jats:italic>Kazachstania pintolopesii<\/jats:italic>\n                  as a dominant fungus in pet store mice across various geographical locations.\n                  <jats:italic>K. pintolopesii<\/jats:italic>\n                  strains isolated from mice in geographically distinct pet stores stably colonize the gastrointestinal tract of laboratory mice, independent of gut bacterial composition, maintaining high fungal burdens for extended periods.\n                  <jats:italic>K. pintolopesii<\/jats:italic>\n                  rapidly became the dominant fungus in the mouse gut in conventional, antibiotic, and germ-free settings, outcompeting other non-murine fungal strains. Pet store-derived\n                  <jats:italic>K. pintolopesii<\/jats:italic>\n                  exhibited unique immunological properties distinct from typical anti-fungal responses. Unlike\n                  <jats:italic>C. albicans<\/jats:italic>\n                  colonization,\n                  <jats:italic>K. pintolopesii<\/jats:italic>\n                  did not induce circulating neutrophil expansion or Th17 cell populations in the gut mucosa. When administered systemically,\n                  <jats:italic>K. pintolopesii<\/jats:italic>\n                  -infected mice showed 100% survival with minimal fungal burden in kidneys, contrasting sharply with lethal\n                  <jats:italic>C. albicans<\/jats:italic>\n                  infections. Adaptive immune deficiency (Rag1 knockout mice) did not affect\n                  <jats:italic>K. pintolopesii<\/jats:italic>\n                  colonization or host response, indicating that B and T cell-mediated immunity does not restrain this fungus.\n                  <jats:italic>K. pintolopesii<\/jats:italic>\n                  colonization provided no cross-protection against systemic candidiasis further establishing lack of immune activation. These findings demonstrate that\n                  <jats:italic>K. pintolopesii<\/jats:italic>\n                  establishes a benign host-fungal relationship through neutrophil-independent mechanisms, avoiding classical anti-fungal immune activation while maintaining stable gut colonization. Instead, it selectively induces strong type 2 mucosal immune responses, increasing tuft and goblet cell counts and stimulating Th2 and group 2 innate lymphoid cell (ILC2) populations. This immune profile confers notable protection against intestinal nematode infection, demonstrated by reduced\n                  <jats:italic>Heligmosomoides polygyrus<\/jats:italic>\n                  egg counts. Altogether,\n                  <jats:italic>K. pintolopesii<\/jats:italic>\n                  serves as an exemplary model for commensal mycobiota, revealing distinct mechanisms for host tolerance and immune modulation.\n                <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1101\/2025.04.30.651489","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,1]],"date-time":"2025-05-01T01:10:16Z","timestamp":1746061816000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["A host-adapted commensal fungus from pet store mice drives type 2 immunity and cross-kingdom protection"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"given":"Geongoo","family":"Han","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Molecular Microbiology & Immunology Department, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rebecca","family":"Yunker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Molecular Microbiology & Immunology Department, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mohammad H.","family":"Hasan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Molecular Microbiology & Immunology Department, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alex","family":"Bruce","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Molecular Microbiology & Immunology Department, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kellie","family":"Baldaro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Molecular Microbiology & Immunology Department, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jessica","family":"Pacia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Molecular Microbiology & Immunology Department, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, 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