title: Multilocus sequence typing analysis reveals that Cryptococcus neoformans var. neoformans is a recombinant population.
abstract: Cryptococcus neoformans var. neoformans (serotype D) represents about 30% of the clinical isolates in Europe and is present less frequently in the other continents. It is the prevalent etiological agent in primary cutaneous cryptococcosis as well as in cryptococcal skin lesions of disseminated cryptococcosis. Very little is known about the genotypic diversity of this Cryptococcus subtype. The aim of this study was to investigate the genotypic diversity among a set of clinical and environmental C. neoformans var. neoformans isolates and to evaluate the relationship between genotypes, geographical origin and clinical manifestations. A total of 83 globally collected C. neoformans var. neoformans isolates from Italy, Germany, France, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Turkey, Thailand, Japan, Colombia, and the USA, recovered from different sources (primary and secondary cutaneous cryptococcosis, disseminated cryptococcosis, the environment, and animals), were included in the study. All isolates were confirmed to belong to genotype VNIV by molecular typing and they were further investigated by MLST analysis. Maximum likelihood phylogenetic as well as network analysis strongly suggested the existence of a recombinant rather than a clonal population structure. Geographical origin and source of isolation were not correlated with a specific MLST genotype. The comparison with a set of outgroup C. neoformans var. grubii isolates provided clear evidence that the two varieties have different population structures.
authors.affiliation: Lab. Micologia Medica, Dip. Scienze Biomediche per la Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy. Electronic address: massimo.cogliati@unimi.it.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cogliati
authors.affiliation: Lab. Micologia Medica, Dip. Scienze Biomediche per la Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zani
authors.affiliation: Section Mycology, Robert-Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Volker
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rickerts
authors.affiliation: Section Mycology, Robert-Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Ilka
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: McCormick
authors.affiliation: Unité de Mycologie Moléculaire, Centre National de Référence Mycoses invasives et Antifongiques, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Desnos-Ollivier
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Microbiology, Medical School National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Aristea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Velegraki
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Microbiología, Instituto Nacional de Salud, Bogotá, D.C., Colombia.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Escandon
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Microbial Science and Host Defense, Meiji Pharmaceutical University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomoe
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ichikawa
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Microbial Science and Host Defense, Meiji Pharmaceutical University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Reiko
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.affiliation: Institut de Parasitologie et Mycologie Médicale, Hospices Civils de Lyon, France; Malaria Research Unit, Université de Lyon, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Anne-Lise
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Bienvenu
authors.affiliation: Section Mycology, Robert-Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Kathrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tintelnot
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Medical Microbiology, School of Medicine, Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Okan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Tore
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Medical Microbiology, School of Medicine, Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sevim
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Akcaglar
authors.affiliation: Antifungal and Fungal Reference Laboratories, Mycotic Diseases Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Shawn
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lockhart
authors.affiliation: Lab. Micologia Medica, Dip. Scienze Biomediche per la Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Tortorano
authors.affiliation: Molecular Microbiology Section, Laboratory of Clinical Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Ashok
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Varma
mesh_terms: D000569:Americas; D001208:Asia; D003453:Cryptococcosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D003455:Cryptococcus neoformans / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005060:Europe; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D016533:Mycological Typing Techniques; D058974:Phylogeography; D011995:Recombination, Genetic
keywords: C. neoformans var. grubii; C. neoformans var. neoformans; Cryptococcus; MLST; Recombination