Metagenomics Insight into the Mycobiome Analysis

The mycobiome, a subset of the microbiome focusing on fungal communities, encompasses a vast yet largely unidentified array of fungal species. Despite their economic importance and impactful roles in human health, fungi remain inadequately studied due to their diverse nature and limited culture methods. While the human gut microbiome has been predominantly scrutinized for prokaryotes and viruses, the complex interplay of fungi, constituting less than 1% microbiome of gut, profoundly influences health and disease. Notably, specific fungal species, such as Candida albicans, significantly affect immunocompromised individuals, and alterations in the gut mycobiome correlate with various human ailments. Fungi colonize diverse areas like the gut, skin, tumors, oral, respiratory, urogenital tracts, impacting immune balance and disease states. Specific fungi, such as Candida and Malassezia, are linked to conditions like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), skin disorders, and certain cancers. A summary is presented in this chapter of metagenomics as an emerging approach to investigate the mycobiome in various body sites, including the gut, lungs, and cancer. Although the field is in its developmental phase, this chapter highlights the relevance and potential applications of metagenomics in understanding fungal communities. It discusses how metagenomic techniques, such as shotgun sequencing and ITS-based methods, offer avenues to analyze the mycobiome’s composition, diversity, and potential role in different diseases.