This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Biswas, S. K. Articles by Nishimura, K. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Biswas, S. K. Articles by Nishimura, K.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, December 2003, p. 5572-5576, Vol. 41, No. 12
0095-1137/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.41.12.5572-5576.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Molecular Analysis of Cryptococcus neoformans Mitochondrial Cytochrome b Gene Sequences

Swarajit Kumar Biswas, Li Wang, Koji Yokoyama,^* and Kazuko Nishimura

Research Center for Pathogenic Fungi and Microbial Toxicoses, Chiba University, Chuo-ku, Chiba 260-8673, Japan

Received 13 May 2003/ Returned for modification 4 July 2003/ Accepted 20 September 2003

Mitochondrial cytochrome b genes (cyt b) of 40 strains of Cryptococcus neoformans were partially sequenced to determine the genetic relations. With the exception of the type strain of C. neoformans var. neoformans, all strains contained introns in their sequences. Analysis of 386 bp of coding sequence from each strain under investigation revealed a total of 27 (6.99%) variable nucleotide sites and categorized isolates of C. neoformans into nine cyt b types. C. neoformans var. gattii included cyt b types I to V, and C. neoformans var. neoformans comprised types VI to IX. cyt b types were correlated with serotypes. All strains with cyt b types I, IV, and V were serotype B. All other strains except IFM 5878 (serotype B) with cyt b types II and III were serotype C. Serotype D strains had cyt b types VI and IX, and serotype A strains were cyt b type VIII. Of four serotype AD strains, one was cyt b type VII and the remaining three were type VIII. The phylogenetic tree based on deduced amino acid sequences divided the strains only into C. neoformans var. neoformans and C. neoformans var. gattii. These results indicate that cyt b sequences are effective for DNA typing as well as phylogenetic analysis of C. neoformans.

Present address: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Texas Tech University Health Science Center, Lubbock, TX 79430.

Present address: Department of Pathogenobiology, School of Basic Medical Science, Norman Bethune Medical Division of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, People's Republic of China.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Mancini, N., Perotti, M., Ossi, C. M., Cavallero, A., Matuska, S., Paganoni, G., Burioni, R., Rama, P., Clementi, M. (2006). Rapid molecular identification of fungal pathogens in corneal samples from suspected keratomycosis cases.. J Med Microbiol 55: 1505-1509 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Biswas, S. K., Wang, L., Yokoyama, K., Nishimura, K. (2005). Molecular Phylogenetics of the Genus Trichosporon Inferred from Mitochondrial Cytochrome b Gene Sequences. J. Clin. Microbiol. 43: 5171-5178 [Abstract] [Full Text]