Abstract
Histoplasma capsulatum is a thermally dimorphic fungal pathogen. It causes approximately 500,000 infections annually in the United States. Histoplasma is present as avirulent mycelia in the soil and transforms into pathogenic yeasts at the human body temperature upon inhalation. This elevated temperature triggers the expression of many virulence factors that enable Histoplasma yeasts to survive and proliferate within immune cells (i.e., macrophages) in the human lungs. In addition to elevated temperature, Histoplasma yeasts also experience other environmental changes within the mammalian host, such as elevated carbon dioxide (CO(2)) (ambient air vs host tissues) during infection. However, the impact of elevated CO(2) on Histoplasma yeasts remains completely unknown. In this study, our results showed that elevated CO(2) enhanced Histoplasma's growth, particularly increasing its ability to utilize certain amino acids (e.g., alanine) as the sole carbon source. We also found that elevated CO(2) reduced Histoplasma's susceptibility to antifungals in vitro. Histoplasma's enhanced growth and reduced antifungal susceptibility under elevated CO(2) were not pH-dependent. Our findings suggest that the elevated CO(2) within mammalian hosts could potentially enhance Histoplasma's virulence. Future antifungal susceptibility tests for Histoplasma should be performed at 5% CO(2) for clinically relevant results.IMPORTANCEThe fungal pathogen Histoplasma capsulatum lives in the soil. Histoplasma spores can be inhaled and cause respiratory infections. The human body is vastly different from the soil. One of the major differences is the carbon dioxide (CO(2)) concentration (0.04% in the ambient air vs 5% or above in the human body). Therefore, it is important to understand the impact of elevated CO(2) on Histoplasma. We found that elevated CO(2) promotes Histoplasma's growth, suggesting that elevated CO(2) could potentially enhance Histoplasma's virulence during infection. Our results showed that elevated CO(2) reduces Histoplasma's antifungal susceptibility, suggesting that antifungal susceptibility tests for Histoplasma should be performed at elevated CO(2) for clinically relevant results.