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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, August 1998, p. 2200-2204, Vol. 36, No. 8
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Genetic Relationship between Cryptococcus
neoformans var. neoformans Strains of Serotypes A
and D
Sarah P.
Franzot,
Bettina
C.
Fries,
Wendy
Cleare, and
Arturo
Casadevall*
Department of Medicine and Department of
Microbiology and Immunology, Division of Infectious Diseases,
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York
Received 24 February 1998/Returned for modification 17 April
1998/Accepted 1 May 1998
Cryptococcus neoformans serotypes A and D are
responsible for the overwhelming majority of infections in patients
with AIDS. The genetic relationship between the serotypes is poorly
understood, but there are significant differences in the epidemiology
and clinical presentation of serotype A and D infections. We evaluated the genetic relationship between reference C. neoformans
strains belonging to serotypes A and D by analyzing their
URA5 sequences and restriction fragment length
polymorphisms (RFLPs) with the C. neoformans repetitive
element 1 (CNRE-1) probe. The results were compared to those previously
obtained for isolates from Brazil and New York City by the same typing
methods, and dendrograms were generated. Serotype A and D strains
produced distinct RFLP patterns consistent with their separation into
two major clusters in the dendrogram generated on the basis of RFLP
data. Similarly, serotype A and D strains clustered independently on
the basis of the nucleotide sequences of their URA5 genes.
Pairwise comparisons revealed average numbers of nucleotide differences
within serotypes A and D of 3.0 ± 1.7 and 7.2 ± 3.4, respectively (P < 0.0001), and between serotypes A
and D of 41.9 ± 2.7. In summary, our results indicate
phylogenetic differences between the two serotypes of C. neoformans var. neoformans and suggest that these
serotypes could probably be considered different varieties of C. neoformans.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Albert Einstein
College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Ave., Golding Building, Room 701, Bronx, NY 10461. Phone: (718) 430-4259. Fax: (718) 430-8701. E-mail:
casadeva{at}aecom.yu.edu.

Present address: Department of Pharmacology, Cornell University
Medical College, New York, NY 10021.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, August 1998, p. 2200-2204, Vol. 36, No. 8
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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