Distinct pathways of adaptive evolution in Cryptococcus neoformans reveal a mutation in adenylyl cyclase with trade-offs for pathogenicity.

ABSTRACT: Pathogenic fungi populate a wide range of environments and infect a diversity of host species. Despite this substantial biological flexibility, the impact of interactions between fungi and their hosts on the evolution of pathogenicity remains unclear. We studied how repeated interactions between the fungus Cryptococcus neoformans and relevant environmental and mammalian host cells-amoeba and mouse macrophages-shape the evolution of this model fungal pathogen. First, using a collection of clinical and environmental isolates of C. neoformans, we characterized a range of survival phenotypes for these strains when exposed to host cells of different species. We then performed serial passages of an environmentally isolated C. neoformans strain through either amoeba or macrophages for ∼75 generat

SUBMITTER: Hilbert ZA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10592076 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature