title: Cryptococcus gattii in the Age of Whole-Genome Sequencing.
abstract: Cryptococcus gattii, the sister species of Cryptococcus neoformans, is an emerging pathogen which gained importance in connection with the ongoing cryptococcosis outbreak on Vancouver Island. Many molecular studies have divided this species into for major lineages: VGI, VGII, VGIII, and VGIV. This commentary summarizes the whole-genome sequencing (WGS) studies that have been carried out with this species, re-emphasizing the phylogenetic relationships, showing chromosomal rearrangements between those four groups, and identifying VGII as ancestral population within C. gattii. In addition, WGS specific to VGII, containing the Vancouver Island outbreak genotypes and those from the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, has placed the origin of this lineage within South America and identified specific genes responsible for either brain or lung infection. It also showed, that many genotypes are spread across a number of different continents, as has been previously shown by multilocus sequence typing (MLST). In addition, it showed that recombination occurs more frequently between mitochondrial than nuclear genomes.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Mycology Research Laboratory, Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Sydney Medical School-Westmead Hospital, Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, The University of Sydney, Westmead Millennium Institute, Sydney, Australia Mycology Laboratory, National Institute of Infectious Diseases Evandro Chagas, FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil wieland.meyer@sydney.edu.au.
authors.forename: Wieland
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Meyer
mesh_terms: D000569:Americas / Q000453:epidemiology; D015825:Chromosomes, Fungal; D003453:Cryptococcosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D056285:Cryptococcus gattii / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015321:Gene Rearrangement; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016681:Genome, Fungal; D005838:Genotype; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D058873:Pandemics; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA