The Cryptococcus gattii species complex harbors the main etiological agents of cryptococcosis in immunocompetent patients. C. gattii molecular type VGII predominates in the north and northeastern regions of Brazil, leading to high morbidity and mortality rates. C. gattii VGII isolates have a strong clinical relevance and phenotypic variations. These phenotypic variations among C. gattii species...

Cryptococcus neoformans produces vesicles containing its major virulence factor, the capsular polysaccharide glucuronoxylomannan (GXM). These vesicles cross the cell wall to reach the extracellular space, where the polysaccharide is supposedly used for capsule growth or delivered into host tissues. In the present study, we characterized vesicle morphology and protein composition by a combinatio...

The cryptococcal capsule is a critical virulence factor of an important pathogen, but little is known about how it is associated with the cell or released into the environment. Two mutants lacking PBX1 and PBX2 were found to shed reduced amounts of the capsule polysaccharide glucuronoxylomannan (GXM). Nuclear magnetic resonance, composition, and physical analyses showed that the shed material w...

Microbes compete for the environmental niche which is their host. To investigate the effects of a pathogenic bacterium on invasion and colonization by a pathogenic yeast, Cryptococcus neoformans was co-cultured with Staphylococcus aureus. We found that the number of colony forming units of C. neoformans was decreased by Staphylococcus aureus. In contrast, the viability of Candida albicans was n...

The high degree of Genotype by Environment Management (GxExM) interactions is a serious challenge for production and crop improvement efforts. This especially true like groundnut that often grown as rainfed in diverse environments management, leading to considerable fluctuations among regions seasons. Developing means characterize the drivers variable yield identify region specific breeding obj...

CBA/J mice were highly susceptible to intratracheal (i.t.) Cryptococcus neoformans infection relative to BALB/c mice, while both strains were equally susceptible to intravenous (i.v.) infection. Increased susceptibility in i.t. infection was associated with higher brain CFU, lower serum immunoglobulin M (IgM) and IgG responses to glucuronoxylomannan (GXM), lack of IgE regulation during infectio...

UNLABELLED Methamphetamine (METH) is a major addictive drug of abuse in the United States and worldwide, and its use is linked to HIV acquisition. The encapsulated fungus Cryptococcus neoformans is the most common cause of fungal meningitis in patients with AIDS. In addition to functioning as a central nervous system stimulant, METH has diverse effects on host immunity. Using a systemic mouse m...

Potassium currents were measured using the three-microelectrode voltage-clamp technique in rat omohyoid muscle at temperatures from 1 to 37°C . The currents were fitted according to the Hodgkin-Huxley equations as modified for K currents in frog skeletal muscle (Adrian et al ., 1970x) . The equations provided an approximate description of the time course of activation, the voltage dependence of...