title: Prevalence of clinical isolates of Cryptococcus gattii serotype C among patients with AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa.
abstract: Cryptococcus gattii is a group of exogenous, neurotropic yeasts that possess the capsular serotype B or C. Isolates of serotype C are extremely rare and, until recently, were known to infect only immunocompetent individuals. We genotyped 176 isolates of Cryptococcus from patients in sub-Saharan Africa who had AIDS; 22 (13.7%) of 161 isolates from Botswana and 2 (13.3%) of 15 isolates from Malawi were C. gattii serotype C strains. All of these serotype C strains belong to the rare VGIV genotype, possess the MAT alpha mating-type allele, and exhibit little genetic diversity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA.
authors.forename: Anastasia P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Litvintseva
authors.forename: Rameshwari
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Thakur
authors.forename: L Barth
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Reller
authors.forename: Thomas G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Mitchell
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000382:microbiology*; D000818:Animals; D001902:Botswana; D003453:Cryptococcosis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000821:virology*; D003454:Cryptococcus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D008295:Malawi; D010802:Phylogeny; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique; D012703:Serotyping
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer