Cryptococcus neoformans: Difference between revisions
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==Description== | ==Description== | ||
Cryptococcus neoformans is an encapsulated fungal pathogen causing fatal meningitis in humans. The infection, initiated by inhalation into the lungs, occurs mainly in immunocompromised individuals, but can also occur in healthy individuals. Cryptococcus neoformans is usually found in tissues in the yeast form. Infection of the brain and meninges is the most common clinical manifestation. In immunocompetent individuals, the initial infection is usually controlled and asymptomatic and the organism remains dormant in a lymph node complex, much like tuberculosis. Reactivation occurs in immunocompromised hosts where the fungus can spread via the blood to infect the central nervous system. Once C. neoformans reaches this stage it can cause meningitis that is uniformly fatal if untreated. Few antifungal agents exist and drug-resistant strains are emerging. | |||
==Genome structure== | ==Genome structure== | ||
Revision as of 21:21, 22 July 2015
Classification
Higher order taxa
Eukaryota (Kingdom); Fungi (Domain); Basidiomycota (Phylum); Tremellomycetes (Class); Tremellales (Order); Tremellaceae (Family); Cryptococcus (Genus)
Species
C. neoformans v. neoformans, C. neoformans v. grubii. A third variety, C. neoformans v. gattii, is now considered a distinct species, Cryptococcus gattii.
Description
Cryptococcus neoformans is an encapsulated fungal pathogen causing fatal meningitis in humans. The infection, initiated by inhalation into the lungs, occurs mainly in immunocompromised individuals, but can also occur in healthy individuals. Cryptococcus neoformans is usually found in tissues in the yeast form. Infection of the brain and meninges is the most common clinical manifestation. In immunocompetent individuals, the initial infection is usually controlled and asymptomatic and the organism remains dormant in a lymph node complex, much like tuberculosis. Reactivation occurs in immunocompromised hosts where the fungus can spread via the blood to infect the central nervous system. Once C. neoformans reaches this stage it can cause meningitis that is uniformly fatal if untreated. Few antifungal agents exist and drug-resistant strains are emerging.
Genome structure
Cell structure and metabolism
Ecology
Pathology
Cryptococcus neoformans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen that may cause meningitis in immunocompromised individuals. Often found in soils contaminated with bird feces, C. neoformans enters its host through the lungs via inhalation of spores. In healthy individuals the infection is usually controlled and asymptomatic, but in immunocompromised hosts the fungus can spread via the blood to infect the central nervous system and cause meningitis that is uniformly fatal if untreated. Few antifungal agents exist and drug-resistant strains are emerging.
