ArticlePLoS genetics2007
alpha AD alpha hybrids of Cryptococcus neoformans: evidence of same-sex mating in nature and hybrid fitness.
Article in PLoS genetics, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 91 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
91 citing papers in PubMed, 134 citations in OpenAlex.
- Identification of a master regulator Msd1 that governs meiotic entry in a global basidiomycete pathogen.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Genomic hallmarks of parasexual reproduction in three hybrid groups of the human pathogenbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- A conserved C2H2 zinc finger protein, Rel1, links ribosome biogenesis to sexual development and antifungal susceptibility in a ubiquitous human fungal pathogen.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2025Article
- Pathogenicity and virulence of Cryptococcus neoformans from an environmental perspective.Virulence · 2025Review
- Genomic evidence for a-α heterothallic and α-α unisexual mating and recombination in an environmental Cryptococcus deneoformans population.PLoS genetics · 2025Article
- Impact of inter-species hybridisation on antifungal drug response in the Saccharomyces genus.BMC genomics · 2024Article
- Discovery of CONature microbiology · 2024Article
- Biogenesis, germination, and pathogenesis ofMicrobiology and molecular biology reviews : MMBR · 2024Review
- On the evolution of variation in sexual reproduction through the prism of eukaryotic microbes.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Review
- Genetic and Phenotypic Diversities in Experimental Populations of Diploid Inter-Lineage Hybrids in the Human PathogenicMicroorganisms · 2021Article
- What Are the Best Parents for Hybrid Progeny? An Investigation into the Human Pathogenic FungusJournal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Cryptococcus neoformans: Sex, morphogenesis, and virulence.Infection, genetics and evolution : journal of molecular epidemiology and evolutionary genetics in infectious diseases · 2021Review
- Factors enforcing the species boundary between the human pathogens Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus deneoformans.PLoS genetics · 2021Article
- The evolving species concepts used for yeasts: from phenotypes and genomes to speciation networks.Fungal diversity · 2021Review
- Pleiotropy and epistasis within and between signaling pathways defines the genetic architecture of fungal virulence.PLoS genetics · 2021Article
- An intergenic "safe haven" region in Cryptococcus neoformans serotype D genomes.Fungal genetics and biology : FG & B · 2020Article
- On the History and Applications of Congenic Strains inPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Review
- Review
- The Evolution of Sexual Reproduction and the Mating-Type Locus: Links to Pathogenesis ofAnnual review of genetics · 2019Review
- Life Cycle ofAnnual review of microbiology · 2019Review
31 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Cryptococcus neoformans is a ubiquitous human fungal pathogen that causes meningoencephalitis in predominantly immunocompromised hosts. The fungus is typically haploid, and sexual reproduction involves two individuals with opposite mating types/sexes, alpha and a. However, the overwhelming predominance of mating type (MAT) alpha over a in C. neoformans populations limits alpha-a mating in nature. Recently it was discovered that C. neoformans can undergo same-sex mating under laboratory conditions, especially between alpha isolates. Whether same-sex mating occurs in nature and contributes to the current population structure was unknown. In this study, natural alpha AD alpha hybrids that arose by fusion between two alpha cells of different serotypes (A and D) were identified and characterized, providing definitive evidence that same-sex mating occurs naturally. A novel truncated allele of the mating-type-specific cell identity determinant SXI1 alpha was also identified as a genetic factor likely involved in this process. In addition, laboratory-constructed alpha AD alpha strains exhibited hybrid vigor both in vitro and in vivo, providing a plausible explanation for their relative abundance in nature despite the fact that AD hybrids are inefficient in meiosis/sporulation and are trapped in the diploid state. These findings provide insights on the origins, genetic mechanisms, and fitness impact of unisexual hybridization in the Cryptococcus population.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.