Deciphering the Association among Pathogenicity, Production and Polymorphisms of Capsule/Melanin in Clinical Isolates of Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii VNI.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Cryptococcus neoformans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen that can cause meningitis in immunocompromised individuals. The objective of this work was to study the relationship between the phenotypes and genotypes of isolates of clinical origin from different cities in Colombia.

Methods

Genome classification of 29 clinical isolates of C. neoformans var. grubii was performed using multilocus sequence typing (MLST), and genomic sequencing was used to genotype protein-coding genes. Pathogenicity was assessed in a larval model, and melanin production and capsule size were evaluated in vitro and in vivo.

Results

Eleven MLST sequence types (STs) were found, the most frequent being ST69 (n = 9), ST2, ST93, and ST377 (each with n

SUBMITTER: Velez N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8950468 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature