Fig. 6

Potential sources of milk mycobiota and factors influencing their presence and composition. Environmental factors including season, city, and vegetation can influence the abundance and composition of the available pool of fungal species that colonise the maternal skin and infant oral cavity. Fungi could be transferred to the milk from the skin and/or infant oral cavity via a retrograde mechanism. Milk bacterial composition could also influence milk fungi either within the milk environment or via interactions on the skin or in the infant oral cavity. Maternal characteristics and components of the milk microenvironment could also influence milk mycobiota