Meiosis-specific genes play roles in ploidy reduction in <i>Cryptococcus neoformans</i> titan cells.

ABSTRACT: Cryptococcus neoformans is a fungal pathogen of humans that causes life-threatening meningoencephalitis. During infection, enlarged, polyploid titan cells are produced that promote survival, evade immune cells, and generate diverse progeny. These titan cells divide to produce haploid, aneuploid or diploid daughter cells with enhanced stress tolerance; however, how ploidy reduction occurs is poorly understood. Here, we show that titan cells developed from diploid strains predominantly produce diploid daughter cells with haploid daughters observed infrequently. We further demonstrate that meiosis-specific genes, including DMC1 and SPO11, are critical for stable inheritance of a diploid genome in the daughter cells. Specifically, deletion of these genes in a heterozygous

SUBMITTER: Bian Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12458163 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature