Carbon and nitrogen sources can fuel fungal virulence

For all pathogenic microbes, metabolic processes are essential for growth, development, and survival during infection. However, host niches are dynamic environments where nutrient availability can vary, and host defense mechanisms often restrict access to host-derived nutrients. Therefore, microbes must adapt to these microenvironments by regulating nutrient acquisition and metabolism, and by employing mechanisms such as virulence factors that release host-derived nutrients. This metabolic plasticity is a key feature that enables certain microbes to thrive during host-microbe interactions. Hence, metabolism is essential for fungal virulence; however, the mechanisms by which carbon and nitrogen sources directly modulate virulence remain underexplored. Moreover, much remains to be learned about fungal species and host species specificity. In this review, we discuss the links between carbon and nitrogen metabolism and fungal virulence in human-pathogenic fungi, highlighting the roles of different nutrient types within the host and their influence on fungal virulence. Understanding fungal physiology could help to develop new strategies to control fungal disease.