Molecular epidemiology of environmental Cryptococcus species isolates based on amplified fragment length polymorphism

K Pakshir, H Fakhim, A Vaezi, J F Meis, M Mahmoodi, K Zomorodian, J Javidnia, S Ansari, F Hagen, H Badali

Research output: Contribution to journal/periodicalArticleScientificpeer-review

15 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Cryptococcosis is a major opportunistic fungal infection caused by members of the genus Cryptococcus, mainly those belonging to the Cryptococcus neoformans/Cryptococcus gattii species complexes. Here, we report a comprehensive molecular epidemiological study of the environmental distribution of Cryptococcus isolates in Shiraz, Iran with review of litreature.

METHOD: A total of 406 samples were obtained from Eucalyptus trees and 139 samples from pigeon droppings. Cryptococcus species identification and genotyping were performed by amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) fingerprinting sequencing and sequencing of the ITS rDNA region.

RESULTS: Majority of the isolates belonged to the Naganishia taxon (n=69) including N. albida (formerly C. albidus, n=62), N. globosa (formerly C. saitoi, n=4), N. adeliensis (formerly C. adeliensis, n=2), N. diffluens (formerly C. diffluens, n=1), and the identified C. neoformans isolates (n=25) belonged to genotype AFLP1/VNI (n=22) and AFLP1B/VNII (n=3).

CONCLUSION: More research efforts should be employed to isolate C. gattii species complex from environmental niches in Iran and provide additional evidence related to novel molecular types.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)599-605
Number of pages7
JournalJournal de Mycologie Médicale
Volume28
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2018

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