title: [Pigmentation of Cryptococcus neoformans strains on sunflower seed agar].
abstract: The production of melanin on a medium of sunflower seeds extract agar from 86 strains of Cryptococcus neoformans belonging to the Mycology Laboratory of "Pedro Kouri" Institute of Tropical Medicine was determined. 54.7% of them produced colonies with dark brown pigment, 5.8% a light pigment and 37.2% an intermediate tonality. A fourth group was created for those strains with a true pigment (2.3%). This paper is an important contribution to attain a better characterization of the strains from the collection of the institution and serves as a basis to further studies of pathogenicity and susceptibility.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Medicina Tropical "Pedro Kourí", Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba.
authors.forename: Iliana del C Valdés
authors.initials: Idel C
authors.lastname: Hernández
authors.forename: Gerardo Martínez
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Machín
authors.forename: Carlos M Fernández
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Andreu
authors.forename: María Teresa Illnait
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Zaragozí
mesh_terms: D000362:Agar; D003455:Cryptococcus neoformans / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism*; D003470:Culture Media; D006368:Helianthus; D008543:Melanins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D012639:Seeds
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D008543:Melanins; D000362:Agar