The Pathomycosphere: A Spatially Defined Framework in Pathogen Ecology.

The pathomycosphere is proposed as a spatially defined microbial assemblage associated with pathogenic fungi, linking the pathobiome and hyphosphere concepts for disease ecology.

• Why it matters: Understanding microbial interactions at the hyphal interface is crucial because these interactions influence pathogen biology and disease outcomes, yet current studies lack spatial resolution and mechanistic insight.
• What they did: The authors introduce the pathomycosphere framework, focusing on hypha-associated microbial communities where physical association with pathogenic fungi affects their biology, enabling targeted investigation of these interactions.
• The result: This framework offers a practical approach to study microbial partnerships in pathogenesis, highlighting bacterial consortia as key components of pathogen ecology with implications beyond agriculture.