Wickes B L, Mayorga M E, Edman U, Edman J C
Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1996 Jul 9;93(14):7327-31. doi: 10.1073/pnas.93.14.7327.
Cryptococcus neoformans is a major opportunistic fungal pathogen in AIDS and other immunosuppressed patients. We have shown that wild-type haploid C. neoformans can develop an extensive hyphal phase under appropriate conditions. Hyphae produced under these conditions are monokaryotic, possess unfused clamp connections, and develop basidia with viable basidiospores. The ability to undergo this transition is determined by the presence of the alpha-mating type locus and is independent of serotype. The association of the hyphal phase with the alpha-mating type may explain the preponderance of this mating type in the environment and the nature of the infectious propagule of C. neoformans.
新型隐球菌是艾滋病患者和其他免疫抑制患者中的主要机会性真菌病原体。我们已经表明，野生型单倍体新型隐球菌在适当条件下可进入广泛的菌丝阶段。在这些条件下产生的菌丝是单核的，具有未融合的锁状联合，并发育出带有活担孢子的担子。发生这种转变的能力由α交配型位点的存在决定，且与血清型无关。菌丝阶段与α交配型的关联可能解释了这种交配型在环境中的优势以及新型隐球菌感染性繁殖体的性质。
