Medical Mycology, 2019, 57, 739–744 doi: 10.1093/mmy/myy121 Advance Access Publication Date: 14 November 2018 Original Article Original Article Occurrence and species diversity of human-pathogenic Mucorales in commercial food-stuffs purchased in Paris area Bita Mousavi 1 , Franc ¸oise Botterel 1 , Jean-Marc Costa 2 , Pascal Arn´ e 1 , Jacques Guillot 1 and Eric Dannaoui 1, 3, * 1 Dynamyc Research Group (EA 7380), Paris Est Cr ´ eteil University, Ecole nationale v ´ et´ erinaire d’Alfort, France, 2 Laboratoire CERBA, Saint-Ouen-L’Aum ˆ one, France and 3 Paris-Descartes University, Faculty of Medicine, APHP, European Georges Pompidou Hospital, Parasitology-Mycology Unit, Microbiology department, Paris, France ∗ To whom correspondence should be addressed. Eric Dannaoui, MD, PhD, FECMM, H ˆ opital Europ ´ een Georges Pompidou, Unit ´ e de Parasitologie-Mycologie, Service de Microbiologie, Paris, France. Tel: +33 1 56 09 39 48; Fax: +33 1 56 09 24 46; E-mail: eric.dannaoui@aphp.fr This work was presented in part at the 27th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), Vienna, Austria, 22–25 April 2017. Received 28 July 2018; Revised 26 September 2018; Accepted 29 October 2018; Editorial Decision 17 October 2018 Abstract Mucormycoses are life-threatening fungal diseases that affect a variety of patients including those with diabetes mellitus or hematological malignancies. The responsible agents, the Mucorales, are opportunistic pathogens originating from the environment such as soil or decaying organic matter. The aim of the present study was to assess the prevalence and diversity of human-pathogenic species of Mucorales in commercially available foodstuffs in France. All food samples were purchased from January 2014 to May 2015 in France. A total of 159 dried food samples including spices and herbs (n = 68), herbal tea (n = 19), cereals (n = 19), vegetables (n = 14), and other foodstuffs (n = 39) were analyzed. Each strain of Mucorales was identified phenotypically, and molecular identification was performed by ITS sequencing. From the 28 (17.6%) samples that were culture-positive for Mucorales, 30 isolates were recovered. Among the isolates, 13 were identified as Rhizopus arrhizus var. arrhizus, 10 R. arrhizus var. delemar, two Rhizopus microsporus, one Lichtheimia corymbifera, three Lichtheimia ramosa, and one Syncephalastrum racemosum. Culture-positive samples originated from different countries (Europe, Asia) and brands. The samples most frequently contaminated by Mucorales were spices and herbs (19/68, 27.9%), followed by herbal tea (2/19, 10.5%), cereals (2/19, 10.5%), other food products (5/39, 12.8%). The present study showed that human-pathogenic Mucorales were frequently recovered from commercially available foodstuffs in France with a large diversity of species. The potential danger represented by Mucorales present in food for immunocompromised patients should be further analyzed. Key words: Mucorales, food, molecular identification, Rhizopus. Introduction Mucorales are filamentous fungi that may be responsible for life- threatening infections in both nonimmunocompromised and im- munocompromised patients. 1, 2 Risk factors for developing mu- cormycosis include diabetes mellitus, burns, trauma, solid-organ transplantations, and hematological malignancies. 3 Clinical presentation of mucormycosis is varied including rhino-cerebral, pulmonary, cutaneous, gastrointestinal, or disseminated forms. The clinical form is often associated with particular underlying disorders. 4, 5 Mucorales are found in the environment, and it is assumed that infection of patients is due to inhalation, cutaneous inoculation, or ingestion of fungal spores. Nevertheless, the ecology of Mucorales (frequency and species distribution) is not well known. 6 Soil is probably the main source of Mucorales, C  The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The International Society for Human and Animal Mycology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com 739 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mmy/article/57/6/739/5181721 by guest on 15 August 2022