Wickes Brian L
Department of Microbiology, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229-3900, USA.
Int J Med Microbiol. 2002 Oct;292(5-6):313-29. doi: 10.1078/1438-4221-00216.
Cryptococcus neoformans is a major fungal pathogen of both humans and animals. The fungus can be divided into two varieties, with each variety being composed of two serotypes. A sexual phase has been identified, which classifies C. neoformans as a bipolar heterothallic fungus with two mating types, MATa and MATalpha. The analysis of mating and mating type in this organism is important for a number of reasons. Both clinical and environmental isolates display a severe bias of the MATalpha mating type over MATa. MATalpha cells are also more virulent than MATalpha cells. Molecular and genetic analyses of the genes that make up the mating pathway have revealed that some of these genes are required for virulence. Finally, although it is well known that infection begins in the lungs after inhalation of infectious particles, it still remains unclear what constitutes the infectious particle. This review will discuss current information about what is known about the role that mating type and morphology play in virulence.
新型隐球菌是人和动物的主要真菌病原体。该真菌可分为两个变种，每个变种由两种血清型组成。已鉴定出有性阶段，这将新型隐球菌归类为具有两种交配型（MATa和MATalpha）的双极性异宗配合真菌。对该生物体中交配和交配型的分析由于多种原因而很重要。临床和环境分离株均显示MATalpha交配型相对于MATa存在严重偏差。MATalpha细胞也比MATa细胞更具毒性。对构成交配途径的基因进行的分子和遗传分析表明，其中一些基因是毒力所必需的。最后，尽管众所周知吸入感染性颗粒后感染始于肺部，但仍不清楚什么构成感染性颗粒。本综述将讨论关于交配型和形态在毒力中所起作用的现有信息。
