Abstract
Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii are found in distinct environments with some overlap around different parts of the world. However, no systematic surveys of these two pathogens have been reported from Puerto Rico, a tropical island uniquely situated between mainland USA and countries in South America. We carried out an exhaustive environmental survey in southwestern Puerto Rico for pathogenic Cryptococcus species. Twenty-two presumptive isolates of C. gattii from cacti and tree detritus were characterized in detail by physiological and molecular methods and seventeen strains were confirmed as C. gattii. Cryptococcus gattii isolates were haploid and MAT strains. Sixteen out of seventeen C. gattii isolates belonged to VGII/AFLP6 genotype while one isolate was a VGIV/AFLP7 genotype. The results are significant as Puerto Rico strains are distinct from VGIII/AFLP5 strains reported from Southern California, but similar to C. gattii VGII/AFLP6 molecular type implicated in recent outbreaks of cryptococcosis in Pacific Northwest and British Columbia, Canada, but different in its M13 fingerprinting, and a common genotype in South America.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abegg MA, Cella FL, Faganello J, Valente P, Schrank A, Vainstein MH. Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii isolated from the excreta of psittaciformes in a southern Brazilian zoological garden. Mycopathologia. 2006;161:83–91.
Barreto de Oliveira MT, Boekhout T, Theelen B, Hagen F, Baroni FA, Lazera MS, et al. Cryptococcus neoformans shows a remarkable genotypic diversity in Brazil. J Clin Microbiol. 2004;42:1356–9.
Boekhout T, Theelen B, Diaz M, Fell JW, Hop WCJ, Abeln ECA, et al. Hybrid genotypes in the pathogenic yeast Cryptococcus neoformans. Microbiology. 2001;147:891–907.
Bovers M, Hagen F, Kuramae FE, Hoogveld HL, Dromer F, St-Germain G, et al. AIDS patient death caused by novel Cryptococcus neoformans × C. gattii hybrid. Emerg Infect Dis. 2008;14:1105–8.
Bovers M, Hagen F, Kuramae EE, Díaz MR, Spanjaard L, Dromer F, et al. Unique hybrids between the fungal pathogens Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii. FEMS Yeast Res. 2006;6:599–607.
Callejas A, Ordoñez N, Rodríguez MC, Castañeda E. First isolation of Cryptococcus neoformans var. gattii, serotype C, from the environment in Colombia. Med Mycol. 1998;36:341–4.
Casadevall A, Perfect JR. Cryptococcus neoformans. Washington, DC: ASM Press; 1998.
Castañeda E. Isolation, identification, serotype determination and sexual stage manual: ecology, physiology and molecular biology of Cryptococcus neoformans. Colombia: National Institute of Health in Colombia; 2000.
Chaturvedi S, Rodeghier B, Fan J, McClelland CM, Wickes BL, Chaturvedi V. Direct PCR of Cryptococcus neoformans MATα and MATa pheromones to determine mating type, ploidy, and variety: a tool for epidemiological and molecular pathogenesis studies. J Clin Microbiol. 2000;38:2007–9.
Chaturvedi S, Dyavaiah M, Larsen RA. Chaturvedi, V. Cryptococcus gattii in AIDS patients, southern California. Emerg Infect Dis. 2005;11:1686–92.
Duncan C. The emergence of Cryptococcus gattii in British Columbia: veterinary aspects. Thesis MS. University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon. 2005.
Ellis D, Pfeiffer TJ. Natural habitat of Cryptococcus neoformans var. gattii. J Clin Microbiol. 1990;28:1642–4.
Farnsworth B. A guide to trails of Guánica state forest biosphere reserve. Puerto Rico: Department of Natural Resources of Puerto Rico; 1991.
Gente S, Sohier D, Coton E, Duhamel C. Identification of Geotrichum candidum at the species and strain level: proposal for a standardized protocol. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol. 2006;33:1019–31.
Halliday CL, Bui T, Krockenberger M, Malik R, Ellis DH, Carter DA. Presence of α and a mating types in environmental and clinical collections of Cryptococcus neoformans var. gattii strains from Australia. J Clin Microbiol. 1999;37:2920–6.
Kidd SE, Hagen F, Tscharke RL, Huynh M, Bartlett H, Fyfe M, et al. A rare genotype of Cryptococcus gattii caused the cryptococcosis outbreak on Vancouver Island (British Columbia, Canada). PNAS. 2004;101:17258–63.
Kidd SE, Chow Y, Mak S, Bach PJ, Chen H, Hingston AO, et al. Characterization of environmental sources of the human and animal pathogen Cryptococcus gattii in British Columbia, Canada, and the pacific Northwest of the United states. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2007;73:1433–43.
Kwon-Chung KJ, Fell JW, Diaz M. Proposal to conserve the name Cryptococcus gattii against C. hondurianus and C. bacillisporus (Basidiomycota, Hymenomycetes, Tremellomycetidae). Taxon. 2003;51:804–6.
Kwon-Chung KJ, Polacheck I, Bennett JE. Improved diagnostic medium for separation of Cryptococcus neoformans var. neoformans (serotypes A and D) and Cryptococcus neoformans var. gattii (serotypes B and C). J Clin Microbiol. 1983;15:535–7.
Lazera MS, Salmito Cavalcanti MA, Londero AT, Trilles L, Nishikawa MM, Wanke B. Possible primary ecological niche of Cryptococcus neoformans. Med Mycol. 2000;38:379–83.
Lizarazo J, Linares M, de Bedout C, Restrepo A, Agudelo CI, Castañeda E. Grupo Colombiano para el Estudio de la Criptococosis. Results of nine years of the clinical and epidemiological survey on cryptococcosis in Colombia, 1997–2005. Biomedica. 2007;27:94–109.
MacDougall L, Fyfe M. Emergence of Cryptococcus gattii in a novel environment provides clues to its incubation period. J Clin Microbiol. 2006;44:1851–2.
Meyer W, Marszewska K, Amirmostofian M, Igreja RP, Hardtke C, Methling K, et al. Molecular typing of global isolates of Cryptococcus neoformans var. neoformans by polymerase chain reaction fingerprinting and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA–a pilot study to standardize techniques on which to base a detailed epidemiological survey. Electrophoresis. 1999;20:1790–9.
Meyer W, Castaneda A, Jackson S, Hyynh M, Castaneda E, The IberoAmerican Cryptococcal Study Group. Molecular typing of IberoAmerican Cryptococcus neoformans isolates. Emerg Infect Dis. 2003;9:189–95.
Pérez J. Aspectos ecológicos y epidemiológicos de Cryptococcus neoformans en Puerto Rico. MS Thesis. University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez. 1996.
Randhawa HS, Kowshik T, Khan ZU. Efficacy of swabbing versus a conventional technique for isolation of Cryptococcus neoformans from decayed wood in tree trunk hollows. Med Mycol. 2005;43:67–71.
Refojo N, Perrotta D, Brudny M, Abrantes R, Hevia AI, Davel G. Isolation of Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii from trunk hollows of living trees in Buenos Aires City, Argentina. Med Mycol. 2009;47:177–84.
Ruiz A, Fromtling RA, Bulmer GS. Distribution of Cryptococcus neoformans in a nature site. InfectImmun. 1981;31:560–3.
Ruiz A, Vélez D, Fromtling RA. Isolation of saprophytic Cryptococcus neoformans form Puerto Rico: distribution and variety. Mycopathologia. 1989;106:167–70.
Springer DJ, Chaturvedi V. Projecting global occurrence of Cryptococcus gattii. Emerg Infect Dis. 2010;16:14–20.
Staib FB, Grave B, Altmann L, Mishra SK, Abel T, Blisse A. Epidemiology of Cryptococcus neoformans. Mycopathologia. 1973;65:73–6.
Trilles L, Lazéra Mdos S, Wanke B, Oliveira RV, Barbosa GG, Nihikawa MM, et al. Regional pattern of the molecular types of Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii in Brazil. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz. 2008;103:455–62.
Acknowledgments
Nucleotide sequencing was carried out at the Molecular Genetics Core of the Wadsworth Center. Special thanks to Norma Rodriguez and Francheska Mojica for the assistance in the environmental sample collection.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11046-010-9317-2
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Loperena-Alvarez, Y., Ren, P., Li, X. et al. Genotypic Characterization of Environmental Isolates of Cryptococcus gattii from Puerto Rico. Mycopathologia 170, 279–285 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-010-9296-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-010-9296-3