Open AccessGenotype and mating type analysis of Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii isolates from China that mainly originated from non‐HIV‐infected patients
Author(s) -
Feng Xiaobo,
Yao Zhirong,
Ren Daming,
Liao Wanqing,
Wu Jingsong
Publication year - 2008
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.1567-1364.2008.00422.x
Subject(s) - cryptococcus gattii , biology , multilocus sequence typing , cryptococcosis , mating type , cryptococcus neoformans , genotype , restriction fragment length polymorphism , cryptococcus , serotype , microbiology and biotechnology , virology , molecular epidemiology , genetics , gene
Cryptococcosis has been reported to be mostly associated with non‐HIV‐related patients in China. However, little is known about the molecular characteristics of clinical isolates from the Cryptococcus neoformans species complex in this country. In this study, 115 clinical isolates were included. Molecular type VNI was the most representative ( n =103), followed by VGI ( n =8), VNIII ( n =2), VNIV ( n =1), and VGII ( n =1). With the exception of a serotype D mating type a isolate, all possessed the MAT α locus. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) revealed that most Cryptococcus gattii isolates from China shared identical MLST profiles with the most common MLST genotype reported in the VGI group, and the only one VGII isolate resembled the Vancouver Island outbreak minor genotype. The C. gattii strains involved in this study were successfully grouped according to their molecular type and mating types by PCR‐restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of the GEF1 gene. Our results suggest that (1) in China, cryptococcosis is mostly caused by C. neoformans var. grubii (molecular type VNI), and mating type α; (2) The most common causative agents of C. gattii infection in China are closely related to a widely distributed MLST genotype; and (3) The PCR‐RFLP analysis of the GEF1 gene has the potential to identify the molecular and mating types of C. gattii simultaneously.