title: Sexual variability in Histoplasma capsulatum and its possible distribution: what is going on?
abstract: Histoplasma capsulatum is a dimorphic fungal pathogen naturally found in the soil. Inhalation of conidia can result in pulmonary histoplasmosis and, in some cases, causes severe disseminated disease and death. This fungus is an ascomycete that has an anamorphic or asexual stage and a teleomorphic or sexual stage, known as Ajellomyces capsulatus, which results from (+) and (-) mating types. Sexual reproduction is regulated by a specialized genomic region known as the mating-type (MAT1) locus. The mating process in this heterothallic species is represented by isolates that contain only one of the two different MAT1 locus idiomorphs (MAT1-1 or MAT1-2) that have unrelated sequences encoding different transcription factors. In medically important dimorphic pathogens and in most ascomycete molds, one MAT locus idiomorph encodes a high-mobility-group (HMG) box-domain transcription factor, and the other idiomorph encodes an alpha-box domain transcription factor. There is scarce molecular information about H. capsulatum mating type although recombinant population structures have been reported that could occur in nature and this process has been documented in distinct models such as parasites and other fungi. In this review, we shall focus on published studies on H. capsulatum sexuality, and outline the distribution of the two H. capsulatum mating types in Latin America. This manuscript is part of the series of works presented at the "V International Workshop: Molecular genetic approaches to the study of human pathogenic fungi" (Oaxaca, Mexico, 2012).
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas, IPEC/FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Electronic address: mauro.muniz@ipec.fiocruz.br.
authors.forename: Mauro Medeiros
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Muniz
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas, IPEC/FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Carolina Nascimento
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Sousa
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas, IPEC/FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Manoel Marques
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Evangelista Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas, IPEC/FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Claudia Vera
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Pizzini
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas, IPEC/FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcos Abreu
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), México D.F., Mexico.
authors.forename: Gabriela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Arellanes
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), México D.F., Mexico.
authors.forename: Maria Lucia
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas, IPEC/FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rosely Maria
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Zancopé-Oliveira
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D049770:Genes, Mating Type, Fungal; D014644:Genetic Variation; D024002:HMGB Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D006658:Histoplasma / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D006660:Histoplasmosis / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D008800:Mexico; D012098:Reproduction; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D024002:HMGB Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors
keywords: Diversidad genética; Genetic diversity; Histoplasma capsulatum; Idiomorfos; Idiomorphs; Latin America; MAT1 locus; Sudamérica