Lazera M S, Salmito Cavalcanti M A, Londero A T, Trilles L, Nishikawa M M, Wanke B
Serviço de Micologia, Centro de Pesquisa Hospital Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Med Mycol. 2000 Oct;38(5):379-83. doi: 10.1080/mmy.38.5.379.383.
To study hollows of living trees as natural habitats of Cryptococcus neoformans in an endemic area of cryptococcosis in the northeastern region of Brazil, samples of decaying wood were collected inside 32 hollows of living trees and plated on niger seed agar. Identification of C. neoformans was based upon morphological and physiological tests. Canavanine-glycine-bromothymol medium was used to screen the varieties and Crypto Check Iatron Kit to serotype the isolates. A total of 123 C. neoformans colonies were recovered from samples of six (18.5%) out of 32 hollow trees. C. neoformans var. neoformans and C. neoformans var. gattii were found occurring alone (pink shower tree, fig tree and pottery tree) or sharing the same hollow (pink shower tree). Long lasting positivity (19-36 months) and significant number of cfu of C. neoformans per gram of decaying wood (0.15-21.7 x 10(3) cfu g(-1)) inside hollows of pink shower tree, fig tree and pottery tree were observed, indicating colonization of these habitats by the fungus. For the first time, C. n. var. neoformans and C. n. var. gattii were found sharing the same natural biotope, thus establishing a possible link between them in their life cycle in nature and suggesting the primary natural niche for the species.
为研究巴西东北部隐球菌病流行地区活树空洞作为新生隐球菌自然栖息地的情况，在32个活树空洞内采集腐朽木材样本，并接种于 Niger 种子琼脂平板上。通过形态学和生理学试验对新生隐球菌进行鉴定。使用刀豆氨酸 - 甘氨酸 - 溴百里酚蓝培养基筛选菌株变种，并用 Crypto Check Iatron 试剂盒对分离株进行血清分型。从32棵空心树中的6棵（18.5%）样本中总共分离出123个新生隐球菌菌落。发现新生隐球菌新生变种和新生隐球菌加蒂变种单独出现（粉扑树、无花果树和陶土树）或存在于同一个空洞中（粉扑树）。在粉扑树、无花果树和陶土树的空洞内观察到持久的阳性结果（19 - 36个月）以及每克腐朽木材中大量的新生隐球菌菌落形成单位（0.15 - 21.7×10³ cfu g⁻¹），表明该真菌在这些栖息地定殖。首次发现新生隐球菌新生变种和新生隐球菌加蒂变种共享同一个自然生物群落，从而在它们的自然生命周期中建立了两者之间的可能联系，并提示了该物种的主要自然生态位。
