Coldspot, hotspot or heatwave? The ecology of triazole resistance in Aspergillus fumigatus

Aspergillus fumigatus is a pathogenic fungus that everyone in the Netherlands inhales on a daily basis. Inhaling this fungus is harmless to most people, but it can cause opportunistic infections in people with a weakened immune system. These infections are treated with triazole antifungals, but A. fumigatus has become more resistant to these medications. Triazoles are not just used in medicine but are also used in agriculture as fungicides to protect or treat crops from fungal disease.  A. fumigatus is exposed to these fungicides in plant waste heaps where this fungus naturally grows, leading to selection for antifungal resistance. In this thesis I have developed a method to measure airborne triazoles resistance for this fungus, and I studied how it varies through space and time in the Netherlands. Finally, I provided experimental evidence that even in the absence of triazole fungicides, other fungicides can also select for triazole resistance in the environment.