{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T18:05:08Z","timestamp":1789668308324,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789603200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Aspergillus Trust","award":["Charity Number 1194699"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Charity Number 1194699"]}]},{"name":"McMaster Global Science Initiative","award":["2021-03"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021-03"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    <jats:italic>Aspergillus flavus<\/jats:italic>\n                    is a ubiquitous fungus commonly found in a variety of ecological niches including soil, crops, the air, and humans. In humans, it is the second leading cause of invasive aspergillosis (IA) and is linked to other illnesses through contamination of agricultural products with aflatoxins. As such,\n                    <jats:italic>A. flavus<\/jats:italic>\n                    threatens food safety, economic wellbeing, and human health, particularly in less developed regions and countries such as Cameroon. To mitigate these effects, farmers and clinicians rely on triazoles to reduce aflatoxin contamination and treat IA. However, a consequence of increasing triazole use is the emergence and spread of triazole resistance in both agriculture and clinics. To identify the prevalence of triazole resistance and the potential genetic relationships among triazole resistant and susceptible strains, this study investigated antifungal susceptibility to both clinical and agricultural triazoles and analyzed genetic variation among various ecological niche populations of\n                    <jats:italic>A. flavus<\/jats:italic>\n                    in Cameroon. Strain genotypes were obtained through analysis of six polymorphic microsatellite markers. Our analyses revealed that 30.3% (17\/56) of the strains were resistant to at least one of the four triazoles, with increased minimum inhibitory concentrations found among crop-isolated strains. A Permutational Multivariate Analysis of Variance suggested limited ecological niche-based clustering of genotypes, consistent with frequent gene flow and dispersal among ecological niches. A multilocus linkage disequilibrium analysis revealed evidence of non-random recombination in\n                    <jats:italic>A. flavus<\/jats:italic>\n                    . Overall, this study elucidates the interplay between ecological pressures, antifungal resistance, and genetic differentiation, and invites alternative methods to control aflatoxin contamination in foods without the use of agricultural fungicides.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0355362","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T17:23:19Z","timestamp":1789665799000},"page":"e0355362","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Genetic diversity and antifungal susceptibility among ecological niche populations of Aspergillus flavus in Yaound\u00e9, Cameroon"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2745-0450","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Marius P. Ngouanom","family":"Kuate","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Buea","place":["Buea, Cameroon"],"department":["Department of Microbiology and Parasitology"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-8831-3338","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Kesini","family":"Ramkumar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"McMaster University","place":["Hamilton, Ontario, Canada"],"department":["Department of Biology"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jezreel","family":"Dalmieda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"McMaster University","place":["Hamilton, Ontario, Canada"],"department":["Department of Biology"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-7116-708X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Javeriya","family":"Nadeem","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"McMaster University","place":["Hamilton, Ontario, Canada"],"department":["Department of Biology"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Javid","family":"Hemmati","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"McMaster University","place":["Hamilton, Ontario, Canada"],"department":["Department of Biology"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Celine N.","family":"Nkenfou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Chantal BIYA International Reference Centre (CIRCB) for Research on HIV\/AIDS prevention and management","place":["Yaound\u00e9, Cameroon"]},{"name":"Higher Teacher Training College (ENS), University of Yaound\u00e9 1","place":["Yaound\u00e9, Cameroon"]},{"name":"Molecular Biology Center (MBC)","place":["Yaound\u00e9, Cameroon"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Roland N.","family":"Ndip","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Buea","place":["Buea, Cameroon"],"department":["Department of Microbiology and Parasitology"]},{"name":"University of Johannesburg","place":["Doornfontein, South Africa"],"department":["Department of Biotechnology and Food Technology"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2915-2780","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Jianping","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"McMaster University","place":["Hamilton, Ontario, Canada"],"department":["Department of Biology"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]]},"reference":[{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0355362.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"223","DOI":"10.1002\/mlf2.12036","article-title":"Assessing global fungal threats to humans","volume":"1","author":"J Xu","year":"2022","journal-title":"mLife"},{"key":"pone.0355362.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"108848","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biotechadv.2026.108848","article-title":"Double-edged sword: Aspergillus flavus as a threat to food safety and a resource for biotechnology","volume":"89","author":"S Abdullaziz","year":"2026","journal-title":"Biotechnol Adv"},{"issue":"8","key":"pone.0355362.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"414","DOI":"10.3390\/toxins17080414","article-title":"Aflatoxin Exposure in Immunocompromised Patients: Current State and Future Perspectives","volume":"17","author":"TR Fagbohun","year":"2025","journal-title":"Toxins (Basel)"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0355362.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"589","DOI":"10.33073\/pjm-2022-048","article-title":"Molecular Characterization of Aspergillus flavus Strains Isolated from Animal Feeds","volume":"71","author":"H Saber","year":"2022","journal-title":"Pol J Microbiol"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0355362.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"55","DOI":"10.3390\/jof5030055","article-title":"Invasive Aspergillosis by Aspergillus flavus: Epidemiology, Diagnosis, Antifungal Resistance, and Management","volume":"5","author":"SM Rudramurthy","year":"2019","journal-title":"J Fungi"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0355362.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"186","DOI":"10.3390\/toxins13030186","article-title":"A Recent Overview of Producers and Important Dietary Sources of Aflatoxins","volume":"13","author":"D Pickova","year":"2021","journal-title":"Toxins (Basel)"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0355362.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7","DOI":"10.14252\/foodsafetyfscj.2017024","article-title":"Aspergillus flavus secondary metabolites: More than just aflatoxins","volume":"6","author":"JW Cary","year":"2018","journal-title":"J Food Saf"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0355362.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"793","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bjm.2016.06.006","article-title":"Is the emergence of fungal resistance to medical triazoles related to their use in the agroecosystems? 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