Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 97, Issue 26, Pages 14455-14460Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.97.26.14455
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Funding
- NIAID NIH HHS [R01 AI39115, R01 AI039115, R37 AI039115, R01 AI042159, P01 AI44975, P01 AI044975, R01 AI42159] Funding Source: Medline
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Cryptococcus neoformans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen with a defined sexual cycle involving mating between haploid MATa and MAT alpha cells. Here we describe the isolation of part of the MATa mating-type locus encoding a Ste20 kinase homolog, Ste20a. We show that the STE20a gene cosegregates with the MATa mating type in genetic crosses, maps within the mating-type locus on a 1.8-Mb chromosome, and is allelic with the MAT alpha locus. We identify the first MATa isolate of the most common pathogenic variety of C. neoformans (serotype A, variety grubii) which had been thought to be extinct. This serotype A MATa strain is sterile, fails to produce mating pheromone, and is less virulent than a serotype A MAT alpha strain in an animal model. Our studies illustrate an association of mating type with virulence and suggest that, like Candida albicans, pathogenic isolates of C. neoformans may be largely asexual.
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