Premium
Transcriptomic and virulence factors analyses of Cryptococcus neoformans hypoxia response
Author(s) -
Kong Qingtao,
Yang Rui,
Wang Zhen,
Zhou Wenquan,
Du Xue,
Huang Suyang,
Jiang Yuan,
Liu Weida,
Sang Hong
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
apmis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1600-0463
pISSN - 0903-4641
DOI - 10.1111/apm.12647
Subject(s) - cryptococcus neoformans , virulence , microbiology and biotechnology , melanin , biology , meningoencephalitis , hypoxia (environmental) , pathogen , cryptococcosis , transcriptome , oxygen , gene , immunology , chemistry , biochemistry , gene expression , organic chemistry
Cryptococcus neoformans is an environmental pathogen requiring atmospheric levels of oxygen for optimal growth. Upon inhalation, C. neoformans disseminates to the brain and causes meningoencephalitis. However, the mechanisms by which the pathogen adapts to the low‐oxygen environment in the brain have not been investigated. We isolated a C. neoformans strain with a small capsule from a host tissue, although this strain produces large capsules in normoxic conditions. We hypothesize that this difference in capsule size is attributed to hypoxia caused by chronic inflammatory response. This study investigated the effect of hypoxia on virulence factors (including capsule, melanin, urease, and phospholipase) of C. neoformans and conducted transcriptomic analyses of the virulence‐associated genes. We found that C. neoformans grew under hypoxic condition, albeit slowly, and that hypoxia may have inhibited the capsule size, melanin production, and phospholipase and urease activities in C. neoformans .