title: Genome-Wide Transcription Study of Cryptococcus neoformans H99 Clinical Strain versus Environmental Strains.
abstract: The infection of Cryptococcus neoformans is acquired through the inhalation of desiccated yeast cells and basidiospores originated from the environment, particularly from bird's droppings and decaying wood. Three environmental strains of C. neoformans originated from bird droppings (H4, S48B and S68B) and C. neoformans reference clinical strain (H99) were used for intranasal infection in C57BL/6 mice. We showed that the H99 strain demonstrated higher virulence compared to H4, S48B and S68B strains. To examine if gene expression contributed to the different degree of virulence among these strains, a genome-wide microarray study was performed to inspect the transcriptomic profiles of all four strains. Our results revealed that out of 7,419 genes (22,257 probes) examined, 65 genes were significantly up-or down-regulated in H99 versus H4, S48B and S68B strains. The up-regulated genes in H99 strain include Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA synthase (MVA1), Mitochondrial matrix factor 1 (MMF1), Bud-site-selection protein 8 (BUD8), High affinity glucose transporter 3 (SNF3) and Rho GTPase-activating protein 2 (RGA2). Pathway annotation using DAVID bioinformatics resource showed that metal ion binding and sugar transmembrane transporter activity pathways were highly expressed in the H99 strain. We suggest that the genes and pathways identified may possibly play crucial roles in the fungal pathogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Elaheh
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Movahed
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Komathy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Munusamy
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Grace Min Yi
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Chung Yeng
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Looi
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Sun Tee
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Tay
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Won Fen
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Wong
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D019295:Computational Biology; D003453:Cryptococcosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D003455:Cryptococcus neoformans / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D015398:Signal Transduction; D059467:Transcriptome; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents