Green and brown colour effects in tremellaceous yeast fungi on Staib agar

Golubev, W. I.; Staib, F.

doi:10.1046/j.1439-0507.2000.00536.x

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…In the presence of phenolic substrates like l -3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine ( l -DOPA) and bird seed agar, C. podzolicus melanized as previously reported (20, 22), although melanization was slower than for C. neoformans var. grubii .…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 67%

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Fungal Virulence in a Lepidopteran Model Is an Emergent Property with Deterministic Features

García-Solache

Izquierdo‐Garcia

Smith

et al. 2013

mBio

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Virulence has been proposed to be an emergent property, which by definition implies that it is not reducible to its components, but this application of a philosophical concept to the host-microbe interaction has not been experimentally tested. The goals of our study were to analyze the correlation of the phenotype with the ability to cause disease and to determine the dynamics of an experimental cryptococcal infection in Galleria mellonella and Acanthamoeba castellanii. By studying the outcome of infection as host death, we showed that the dynamics of virulence in the G. mellonella/Cryptococcus neoformans interaction follow a predictable pattern. We also found that the experimental temperature and not the presence of virulence factors was a critical parameter defining the pathogenic potential of cryptococcal species. Our results established that cryptococcal species not considered pathogenic could be pathogens given suitable conditions. Our results support the idea that virulence is an emergent property that cannot be easily predicted by a reductionist approach and yet it behaves as a deterministic system in a lepidopteran cryptococcal infection. These findings provide a road map for evaluating whether host-microbe interactions in other systems are chaotic, deterministic, or stochastic, including those with public health importance.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 67%

“…C. amylolentus is the closest known relative to the PC (9), whereas C. podzolicus (20) is more distantly related (21) but was reported to be able to melanize and possess a capsule (7, 22). …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fungal Virulence in a Lepidopteran Model Is an Emergent Property with Deterministic Features

García-Solache

Izquierdo‐Garcia

Smith

et al. 2013

mBio

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“…Of the human pathogenic fungi, C. neoformans makes only eumelanin when provided with appropriate substrate (Kwon‐Chung et al ., 1983). Other emerging species of Cryptococcus such as C. albidus, C. laurentii, C. podzolicus and C. curvatus express laccase and produce eumelanin (Staib, 1999; Golubev and Staib, 2000; Petter et al ., 2001; Ikeda et al ., 2002). H. capsulatum (Nosanchuk et al ., 2002) and P. brasiliensis (Gómez et al ., 2001) have laccase activity but also are thought to synthesize DNH melanin.…”

Section: Melanin Synthesis In Fungimentioning

confidence: 99%

The contribution of melanin to microbial pathogenesis

Nosanchuk

Casadevall

2003

Cellular Microbiology

557

454

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SummaryMelanins are enigmatic pigments that are produced by a wide variety of microorganisms including several species of pathogenic bacteria, fungi and helminthes. The study of melanin is difficult because these pigments defy complete biochemical and structural analysis. Nevertheless, the availability of new reagents in the form of monoclonal antibodies and melaninbinding peptides, combined with the application of various physical techniques, has provided insights into the process of melanization. Melanization is important in microbial pathogenesis because it has been associated with virulence in many microorganisms. Melanin appears to contribute to virulence by reducing the susceptibility of melanized microbes to host defence mechanisms. However, the interaction of melanized microbes and the host is complex and includes immune responses to melanin-related antigens. Production of melanin has also been linked to protection against environmental insults. Interference with melanization is a potential strategy for antimicrobial drug and pesticide development. The process of melanization poses fascinating problems in cell biology and provides a type of pathogenic strategy that is common to highly diverse pathogens.

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“…[16][17][18][19][20] Our primary isolations were initially selected by the presence of pigmented colonies on CAA. This medium generally performs well with C. neoformans ⁄ C. gattii species complex isolated from clinical samples, but we 19 and others [21][22][23][24] experienced that isolates from the environment and some clinical isolates may display variability in pigmentation intensity. In addition, it has been shown that UV radiation may induce mutations affecting melanogenesis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Environmental isolation and characterisation of Cryptococcus species from living trees in Havana city, Cuba

Illnait-Zaragozí

Martínez-Machín

Fernández-Andreu

et al. 2012

Mycoses

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Summary Cryptococcus isolates from Cuban patients were identified as C. neoformans var. grubii. Although this species has since long been associated with bird droppings, a recent genotyping study provided strong evidence for additional origins of exposure. We sampled different species of trees in Havana, Cuba to identify other potential sources of exposure to this fungus. A total of 662 samples were collected from 331 trees and cacti from Havana, Cuba. Initial selection of the isolates was carried out by conventional techniques. Isolates were further characterised using a combination of AFLP analysis and DNA sequence analysis. Identification by conventional methods yielded 121 C. neoformans and 61 C. gattii isolates. Molecular analyses showed that none of these isolates was C. gattii and only one isolate proved to be C. neoformans var. grubii. A total of 27 different other species were identified. The most prevalent species was C. heveanensis (33%). Sixty‐five unidentifiable isolates segregated into ten potentially novel species. Conventional cultivation methods have a low specificity for C. neoformans complex and molecular analyses need to be applied to confirm identification of isolates from environmental sources. Environmental niches responsible for most of human cryptococcal infections in Cuba remain to be identified.

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Green and brown colour effects in tremellaceous yeast fungi on Staib agar

Cited by 8 publications

References 12 publications

Fungal Virulence in a Lepidopteran Model Is an Emergent Property with Deterministic Features

Fungal Virulence in a Lepidopteran Model Is an Emergent Property with Deterministic Features

The contribution of melanin to microbial pathogenesis

Environmental isolation and characterisation of Cryptococcus species from living trees in Havana city, Cuba

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