Open AccessUnique hybrids between the fungal pathogens Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii
Author(s) -
Bovers Marjan,
Hagen Ferry,
Kuramae Eiko E.,
Diaz Mara R.,
Spanjaard Lodewijk,
Dromer Françoise,
Hoogveld Hans L.,
Boekhout Teun
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
fems yeast research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.991
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1567-1364
pISSN - 1567-1356
DOI - 10.1111/j.1567-1364.2006.00082.x
Subject(s) - cryptococcus neoformans , cryptococcus gattii , biology , cryptococcosis , serotype , cryptococcus , microbiology and biotechnology , amplified fragment length polymorphism , mating type , genotype , virology , genetics , genetic diversity , gene , population , demography , sociology
Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii are yeasts that cause meningoencephalitis, but that differ in host range and geographical distribution. Cryptococcus neoformans occurs world‐wide and mostly infects immunocompromised patients, whereas C. gattii occurs mainly in (sub)tropical regions and infects healthy individuals. Anomalous C. neoformans strains were isolated from patients. These strains were found to be monokaryotic, and diploid or aneuploid. Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) and sequence analyses indicated that AFLP genotypes 2 ( C. neoformans ) and 4 ( C. gattii ) were present. The strains were serologically BD. Mating‐ and serotype‐specific PCR reactions showed that the strains were MAT a‐serotype D/ MAT α‐serotype B. This study is the first to describe naturally occurring hybrids between C. neoformans and C. gattii .