ArticleInfection and immunity2009
Spores as infectious propagules of Cryptococcus neoformans.
Article in Infection and immunity, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 212 papers.
What it found
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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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
212 citing papers in PubMed, 330 citations in OpenAlex.
- Trial
- The Cryptococcus neoformans titanide is a pathogenic cell type that arises from typical yeast cells in response to host conditions.PLoS biology · 2026Article
- 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
- Neofunctionalization of H1 linker histones drives divergent gene expression and histone methylation in Cryptococcus neoformans.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Article
- Review of Risk Factors and Factors Influencing Outcomes of Cryptococcal Meningitis in Persons Living with HIV.Infection and drug resistance · 2026Review
- Advances in cryptococcal infections-associated immunopathology and potential therapeutic strategies.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Review
- 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
- Article
- Genomic and phenotypic insights into the expanding phylogenetic landscape of the Cryptococcus genus.PLoS genetics · 2025Article
- Genomic and phenotypic insights into the expanding phylogenetic landscape of thebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Unisexual reproduction in the global human fungal pathogenProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- The complex evolution and genomic dynamics of mating-type loci in Cryptococcus and Kwoniella.PLoS biology · 2025Article
- Unisexual reproduction in the global human fungal pathogenbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Tracing the evolution and genomic dynamics of mating-type loci inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Review
- Invasive pulmonary cryptococcosis mimicking metastatic lung cancer: A case report and review of literature.World journal of clinical cases · 2025Article
- Article
- STRIPAK complex defects result in pseudosexual reproduction in Cryptococcus neoformans.PLoS genetics · 2025Article
- Reconstruction and exploitation of a dedicated Genome-Scale Metabolic Model of the human pathogenbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
152 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii are closely related pathogenic fungi that cause pneumonia and meningitis in both immunocompromised and immunocompetent hosts and are a significant global infectious disease risk. Both species are found in the environment and are acquired via inhalation, leading to an initial pulmonary infection. The infectious propagule is unknown but is hypothesized to be small desiccated yeast cells or spores produced by sexual reproduction (opposite- or same-sex mating). Here we characterize the morphology, germination properties, and virulence of spores. A comparative morphological analysis of hyphae and spores produced by opposite-sex mating, same-sex mating, and self-fertile diploid strains was conducted by scanning electron microscopy, yielding insight into hyphal/basidial morphology and spore size, structure, and surface properties. Spores isolated by microdissection were found to readily germinate even on water agarose medium. Thus, nutritional signals do not appear to be required to stimulate spore germination, and as-yet-unknown environmental factors may normally constrain germination in nature. As few as 500 CFU of a spore-enriched infectious inoculum (approximately 95% spores) of serotype A C. neoformans var. grubii were fully virulent (100% lethal infection) in both a murine inhalation virulence model and the invertebrate model host Galleria mellonella. In contrast to a previous report on C. neoformans var. neoformans, spores of C. neoformans var. grubii were not more infectious than yeast cells. Molecular analysis of isolates recovered from tissues of infected mice (lung, spleen, and brain) provides evidence for infection and dissemination by recombinant spore products. These studies provide a detailed morphological and physiological analysis of the spore and document that spores can serve as infectious propagules.
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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.