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Genotypic Diversity and Antifungal Susceptibility of Clinical Isolates of Cryptococcus Gattii Species Complex from Argentina

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the genotypic diversity of 22 Cryptococcus gattii species complex clinical isolates from Argentina and to place these genotypes within the diversity of clinical, veterinary and environmental isolates from Latin America. Mating type and antifungal susceptibility of the isolates were also determined. By URA5-RFLP, nine isolates were identified as molecular type VGI, 10 as VGII, one as VGIII and two as VGIV. Multilocus sequence typing (MSLT), following the International Society for Human and Animal Mycology (ISHAM) consensus MLST scheme, was used to determine the genotypic diversity. Our results suggest that, in Argentina, VGI isolates have low genetic diversity, while VGII isolates have high genetic diversity. Both isolates identified as VGIV by URA5-RFLP were genotyped by MLST as belonging to the currently named VGVI clade. From all isolates, eight sequence types (STs) were unique for Argentina, while five STs have been reported already in other countries, being of high interest the genotypes ST20 and ST7 since they belong to the subtypes VGIIa and VGIIb, respectively, which are associated with hypervirulent strains responsible for outbreaks in North America. To note, geographical analysis showed that some genotypes may be associated with some regions in Argentina. Most isolates were MATα, but we are reporting one isolate MATa for the first time in the country. Antifungal susceptibility tests showed that itraconazole, voriconazole and posaconazole had high activity against all isolates, while amphotericin B, fluconazole and 5-fluorocytosine were the least active drugs against all studied isolates.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Lucia Irazu for her help in statistical analysis.

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The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento Micología, Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas “Dr. Carlos G. Malbrán”, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Constanza Giselle Taverna, Barbara Abigail Arias, Matías Ezequiel Vivot, Wanda Szusz, Walter Vivot, Mariana Mazza, Susana Beatriz Córdoba & Cristina Elena Canteros

  2. Studies in Translational Microbiology and Emerging Diseases (MICROS) Research Group, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universidad de Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia

    Carolina Firacative

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  1. Constanza Giselle Taverna
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  2. Barbara Abigail Arias
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection was performed by CGT, BA, MEV, WS and WV. Analysis were performed by CGT, CF, MM, SC and CEC. The first draft of the manuscript was written by CGT and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Constanza Giselle Taverna.

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Taverna, C.G., Arias, B.A., Firacative, C. et al. Genotypic Diversity and Antifungal Susceptibility of Clinical Isolates of Cryptococcus Gattii Species Complex from Argentina. Mycopathologia 188, 51–61 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-022-00705-x

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