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Eukaryotic Cell, December 2003, p. 1162-1168, Vol. 2, No. 6
1535-9778/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/EC.2.6.1162-1168.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Evidence of Sexual Recombination among Cryptococcus neoformans Serotype A Isolates in Sub-Saharan Africa{dagger}

Anastasia P. Litvintseva,1* Robert E. Marra,1 Kirsten Nielsen,1,2 Joseph Heitman,1,2,3,4 Rytas Vilgalys,1,5 and Thomas G. Mitchell1

Departments of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology,1 Medicine,3 Pharmacology and Cancer Biology,4 Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710,2 Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 277065

Received 26 August 2003/ Accepted 3 October 2003

The most common cause of fungal meningitis in humans, Cryptococcus neoformans serotype A, is a basidiomycetous yeast with a bipolar mating system. However, the vast majority (>99.9%) of C. neoformans serotype A isolates possess only one of the two mating type alleles (MAT{alpha}). Isolates with the other allele (MATa) were recently discovered and proven to mate in the laboratory. It has been a mystery whether and where C. neoformans strains undergo sexual reproduction. Here, we applied population genetic approaches to demonstrate that a population of C. neoformans serotype A clinical isolates from Botswana contains an unprecedented proportion of fertile MATa isolates and exhibits evidence of both clonal expansion and recombination within two partially genetically isolated subgroups. Our findings provide evidence for sexual recombination among some populations of C. neoformans serotype A from sub-Saharan Africa, which may have a direct impact on their evolution.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Box 3020, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710. Phone: (919) 684-9096. Fax: (919) 684-2790. E-mail: litvi001{at}mc.duke.edu.

{dagger} The supplemental material for this article may be found at http://ec.asm.org/.

Eukaryotic Cell, December 2003, p. 1162-1168, Vol. 2, No. 6
1535-9778/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/EC.2.6.1162-1168.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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