Mission Statement
This group focused on the need of an increased and constant vigilance of the etiological agents of cryptococcosis, Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptocccus gattii, through multi-locus sequences typing (MLST) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), to understand the epidemiology of cryptococcal infection, and the differences regarding the genetic diversity, virulence, pathogenicity, antifungal susceptibility, geographical distribution and the adaptation to local environments between and within major molecular types/species.
Achievements of the working group in 2023
- From the global community working on Cryptococcus and cryptococcosis, 45 researchers ranging from group leaders to young investigators, from 19 countries representing all continents, confirmed their continuing participation in or joined the working group.
- Among the working group members, 29 are members of ISHAM.
- The MLST database has been expanded to 703 sequence types (ST) for C. neoformans and 579 STs for C. gattii.
- Symposium and Working Group session at 11th ICCC:
Session 1A – Basic Science: Species and Phenotypes
Joseph Heitman: Genomic insights on the Cryptococcus species complex.
Poppy Sephton-Clark: Leveraging population diversity to identify genomic signatures of clinical isolates
Blake Billmyre: High-throughput genetics, essential gene discovery, and antifungal resistance in Cryptococcus neoformans.
Carolina Firacative: Low genetic diversity among Cryptococcus neoformans isolates recovered from HIV positive patients from Lima, Peru with recurrent and multiple infections.
Jianping Xu: Analyses of the global multilocus genotypes of the human pathogenic yeast Cryptococcus neoformans species complex.
Volker Rickerts: Core Genome MLST for molecular typing of C. neoformans var. neoformans isolated in Germany.
Upcoming events planned for 2024-2025
We are currently preparing a symposium proposal for our Working Group for the 22nd ISHAM Congress, which will be held in Iguaçu Falls, Brazil, from 20 to 24 May 2025.
Publications arising from the Working Group
Authors’ names, who are Working Group members, are in bold.
- Cogliati M, Chidebelu PE, Hitchcock M, Chen M, Rickerts V, Ackermann S, Desnos Ollivier M, Inácio J, Nawrot U, Florek M, Kwon-Chung KJ, Yang DH, Firacative C, Puime CA, Escandon P, Bertout S, Roger F, Xu J. Multi-locus sequence typing and phylogenetics of Cryptococcus neoformans AD hybrids. Fungal Genet Biol. 2024;170:103861. doi: 10.1016/j.fgb.2023.103861.
- Andrade-Silva LE, Vilas-Boas A, Ferreira-Paim K, Andrade-Silva J, Santos DA, Ferreira TB, Borges AS, Mora DJ, Melhem MSC, Silva-Vergara ML. Genotyping analysis of Cryptococcus deuterogattii and correlation with virulence factors and antifungal susceptibility by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute and the European Committee on Antifungal Susceptibility Testing Methods. J Fungi (Basel). 2023;9(9):889. doi: 10.3390/jof9090889.
- Pllana-Hajdari D, Chidebelu EP, Cogliati M. Fertile Cryptococcus neoformans var. neoformans (C. deneoformans) isolates from natural environment in Kosovo. Med Mycol. 2023;61(9):myad096. doi: 10.1093/mmy/myad096.
- Tshekiso K, Loeto D, Muzila M, Seetswane E, Kenosi K, Jongman M. Prevalence, molecular and phenotypic profiles of arboreal associated Cryptococcus neoformans in Botswana. Fungal Biol. 2023;127(7-8):1129-1135. doi: 10.1016/j.funbio.2023.06.008.
- Vélez N, Vega-Vela N, Clay OK, Parra-Giraldo CM. The structure of associations: Method insights from analyzing 28 clinical isolates of Cryptococcus neoformans. Med Mycol. 2023;61(3):myad024. doi: 10.1093/mmy/myad024.
Funding provided by ISHAM in the past 3 years
None.
