Molecular epidemiology and microbiological characteristics of Cryptococcus gattii VGII isolates from China.

Cryptococcus gattii (C. gattii) is a fungal pathogen that once caused an outbreak of cryptococcosis on Vancouver Island, and had spread worldwide, while few data were available in China. In this study, seven clinical isolates of C. gattii VGII were collected from 19 hospitals, Multi-locus Sequence T...

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Main Authors: Xuelei Zang, Weixin Ke, Lifeng Wang, Hua Wu, Yemei Huang, Hengyu Deng, Meng Zhou, Ningxin Wu, Xinying Xue, Dingxia Shen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2022-02-01
Series:PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0010078&type=printable
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author Xuelei Zang
Weixin Ke
Lifeng Wang
Hua Wu
Yemei Huang
Hengyu Deng
Meng Zhou
Ningxin Wu
Xinying Xue
Dingxia Shen
author_facet Xuelei Zang
Weixin Ke
Lifeng Wang
Hua Wu
Yemei Huang
Hengyu Deng
Meng Zhou
Ningxin Wu
Xinying Xue
Dingxia Shen
author_sort Xuelei Zang
collection DOAJ
description Cryptococcus gattii (C. gattii) is a fungal pathogen that once caused an outbreak of cryptococcosis on Vancouver Island, and had spread worldwide, while few data were available in China. In this study, seven clinical isolates of C. gattii VGII were collected from 19 hospitals, Multi-locus Sequence Typing (MLST) analysis and whole-genome sequencing (WGS) was performed, combined with published data for phylogenetic analysis. In addition, in vitro antifungal susceptibility testing, phenotypic analysis, and in vivo virulence studies were performed, subsequently, histopathological analysis of lung tissue was performed. C.gattii VGII infected patients were mainly immunocompetent male, and most of them had symptoms of central nervous system (CNS) involvement. MLST results showed that isolates from China exhibited high genetic diversity, and sequence type (ST) 7 was the major ST among the isolates. Some clinical isolates showed a close phylogenetic relationship with strains from Australia and South America. All clinical isolates did not show resistance to antifungal drugs. In addition, there was no correlation between virulence factors (temperature, melanin production, and capsule size) and virulence while in vivo experiments showed significant differences in virulence among strains. Lung fungal burden and damage to lung tissue correlated with virulence, and degree of damage to lung tissue in mice may highlight differences in virulence. Our work seeks to provide useful data for molecular epidemiology, antifungal susceptibility, and virulence differences of C. gattii VGII in China.
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publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
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spelling doaj-art-ea160be4ea48487bbb53ca3454c3b7db2025-08-20T03:00:05ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases1935-27271935-27352022-02-01162e001007810.1371/journal.pntd.0010078Molecular epidemiology and microbiological characteristics of Cryptococcus gattii VGII isolates from China.Xuelei ZangWeixin KeLifeng WangHua WuYemei HuangHengyu DengMeng ZhouNingxin WuXinying XueDingxia ShenCryptococcus gattii (C. gattii) is a fungal pathogen that once caused an outbreak of cryptococcosis on Vancouver Island, and had spread worldwide, while few data were available in China. In this study, seven clinical isolates of C. gattii VGII were collected from 19 hospitals, Multi-locus Sequence Typing (MLST) analysis and whole-genome sequencing (WGS) was performed, combined with published data for phylogenetic analysis. In addition, in vitro antifungal susceptibility testing, phenotypic analysis, and in vivo virulence studies were performed, subsequently, histopathological analysis of lung tissue was performed. C.gattii VGII infected patients were mainly immunocompetent male, and most of them had symptoms of central nervous system (CNS) involvement. MLST results showed that isolates from China exhibited high genetic diversity, and sequence type (ST) 7 was the major ST among the isolates. Some clinical isolates showed a close phylogenetic relationship with strains from Australia and South America. All clinical isolates did not show resistance to antifungal drugs. In addition, there was no correlation between virulence factors (temperature, melanin production, and capsule size) and virulence while in vivo experiments showed significant differences in virulence among strains. Lung fungal burden and damage to lung tissue correlated with virulence, and degree of damage to lung tissue in mice may highlight differences in virulence. Our work seeks to provide useful data for molecular epidemiology, antifungal susceptibility, and virulence differences of C. gattii VGII in China.https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0010078&type=printable
spellingShingle Xuelei Zang
Weixin Ke
Lifeng Wang
Hua Wu
Yemei Huang
Hengyu Deng
Meng Zhou
Ningxin Wu
Xinying Xue
Dingxia Shen
Molecular epidemiology and microbiological characteristics of Cryptococcus gattii VGII isolates from China.
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
title Molecular epidemiology and microbiological characteristics of Cryptococcus gattii VGII isolates from China.
title_full Molecular epidemiology and microbiological characteristics of Cryptococcus gattii VGII isolates from China.
title_fullStr Molecular epidemiology and microbiological characteristics of Cryptococcus gattii VGII isolates from China.
title_full_unstemmed Molecular epidemiology and microbiological characteristics of Cryptococcus gattii VGII isolates from China.
title_short Molecular epidemiology and microbiological characteristics of Cryptococcus gattii VGII isolates from China.
title_sort molecular epidemiology and microbiological characteristics of cryptococcus gattii vgii isolates from china
url https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0010078&type=printable
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