Recognition of seven species in the Cryptococcus gattii/Cryptococcus neoformans species complex

Ferry Hagen; Kantarawee Khayhan; Bart Theelen; Anna Kolecka; Itzhack Polacheck; Edward Sionov; Rama Falk; Sittiporn Parnmen; H Thorsten Lumbsch; Teun Boekhout

doi:10.1016/j.fgb.2015.02.009

Recognition of seven species in the Cryptococcus gattii/Cryptococcus neoformans species complex

Fungal Genet Biol. 2015 May:78:16-48. doi: 10.1016/j.fgb.2015.02.009. Epub 2015 Feb 23.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ CBS-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre, Basidiomycete and Yeast Research, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Canisius-Wilhelmina Hospital, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
² CBS-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre, Basidiomycete and Yeast Research, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Phayao, Phayao, Thailand.
³ CBS-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre, Basidiomycete and Yeast Research, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
⁴ Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, Israel.
⁵ Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, Israel; Department of Food Quality & Safety, Institute for Postharvest and Food Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel.
⁶ Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, Israel; Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nir-David, Israel.
⁷ Department of Medical Sciences, Ministry of Public Health, Nonthaburi, Thailand.
⁸ Science & Education, The Field Museum, Chicago, IL, USA.
⁹ CBS-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre, Basidiomycete and Yeast Research, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Medical Mycology, Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China; Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. Electronic address: t.boekhout@cbs.knaw.nl.

PMID: 25721988
DOI: 10.1016/j.fgb.2015.02.009

Abstract

Phylogenetic analysis of 11 genetic loci and results from many genotyping studies revealed significant genetic diversity with the pathogenic Cryptococcus gattii/Cryptococcus neoformans species complex. Genealogical concordance, coalescence-based, and species tree approaches supported the presence of distinct and concordant lineages within the complex. Consequently, we propose to recognize the current C. neoformans var. grubii and C. neoformans var. neoformans as separate species, and five species within C. gattii. The type strain of C. neoformans CBS132 represents a serotype AD hybrid and is replaced. The newly delimited species differ in aspects of pathogenicity, prevalence for patient groups, as well as biochemical and physiological aspects, such as susceptibility to antifungals. MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry readily distinguishes the newly recognized species.

Keywords: Cryptic species; Cryptococcus gattii; Cryptococcus neoformans; Pathogen; Taxonomy; Yeast.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Cryptococcus neoformans / chemistry
Cryptococcus neoformans / classification*
Cryptococcus neoformans / genetics*
Genetic Variation*
Genotype*
Molecular Typing
Mycological Typing Techniques
Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization