title: Genetic and pathological characteristics of Cryptococcus gattii and Cryptococcus neoformans var. neoformans from meningoencephalitis in autochthonous goats and mouflons, Sardinia, Italy.
abstract: In this study, we examined in Sardinia the brain of 555 autochthonous sheep, 50 goats, and 4 mouflons which were found affected by neurological signs. We found 6 goats and one mouflon with meningoencephalitis caused by Cryptococcus sp. There was no evidence of cryptococcal infections in any of the examined sheep. MLST genotyping on Cryptococcus sp. isolates identified Cryptococcus gatti genotype AFLP4/VGI and Cryptococcus neoformans var. neoformans genotype AFLP2/VNIV. Phylogenetically, all Cryptococcus gattii isolates fell within the autochthonous animal, human and environmental Mediterranean isolate cluster, forming a distinct branch along with environmental strains from Alicante, in the southern Mediterranean coast of Spain.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sardegna, G.Pegreffi, via Duca degli Abruzzi 8, 07100 Sassari, Italy. Electronic address: caterina.maestrale@izs-sardegna.it.
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maestrale
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sardegna, G.Pegreffi, via Duca degli Abruzzi 8, 07100 Sassari, Italy. Electronic address: mariangela.masia@izs-sardegna.it.
authors.forename: Mariangela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Masia
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sardegna, G.Pegreffi, via Duca degli Abruzzi 8, 07100 Sassari, Italy. Electronic address: davide.pintus@izs-sardegna.it.
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pintus
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sardegna, G.Pegreffi, via Duca degli Abruzzi 8, 07100 Sassari, Italy. Electronic address: stefano.lollai@izs-sardegna.it.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lollai
authors.affiliation: University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557-0320, USA. Electronic address: tkozel@medicine.nevada.edu.
authors.forename: Thomas R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Kozel
authors.affiliation: University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557-0320, USA. Electronic address: mhollingsworth@medicine.nevada.edu.
authors.forename: Marcellene A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Gates-Hollingsworth
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sardegna, G.Pegreffi, via Duca degli Abruzzi 8, 07100 Sassari, Italy. Electronic address: mariagiovanna.cancedda@izs-sardegna.it.
authors.forename: Maria Giovanna
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Cancedda
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sardegna, G.Pegreffi, via Duca degli Abruzzi 8, 07100 Sassari, Italy. Electronic address: pierangela.cabras@izs-sardegna.it.
authors.forename: Pierangela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cabras
authors.affiliation: Università degli Studi di Sassari, Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria, via Vienna 1, 07100 Sassari, Italy. Electronic address: pirino@uniss.it.
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pirino
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sardegna, G.Pegreffi, via Duca degli Abruzzi 8, 07100 Sassari, Italy. Electronic address: vittoria.dascenzo@izs-sardegna.it.
authors.forename: Vittoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: D'Ascenzo
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sardegna, G.Pegreffi, via Duca degli Abruzzi 8, 07100 Sassari, Italy. Electronic address: ciriaco.ligios@izs-sardegna.it.
authors.forename: Ciriaco
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ligios
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D016384:Consensus Sequence; D003453:Cryptococcosis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D056285:Cryptococcus gattii / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D003455:Cryptococcus neoformans / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000032:analysis; D005838:Genotype; D015511:Goat Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D006041:Goats; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008590:Meningoencephalitis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment / Q000662:veterinary; D012756:Sheep; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D034561:Sheep, Domestic; D013030:Spain
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal
keywords: Cryptococcus gattii; Cryptococcus neoformans; Goats; MLST; Mouflon