Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23670559›Full record

ArticleInfection and immunity2013

Congenic strains of the filamentous form of Cryptococcus neoformans for studies of fungal morphogenesis and virulence.

Bing Zhai, Pinkuan Zhu, Dylan Foyle, Srijana Upadhyay, Alexander Idnurm, Xiaorong Lin

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Infection and immunity, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 58 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
58citing papers in PubMed
4.3field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

58 citing papers in PubMed, 88 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Bing ZhaiDepartment of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA.
Pinkuan Zhu
Dylan Foyle
Srijana Upadhyay
Alexander Idnurm
Xiaorong Lin
Texas A&M University · USUniversity of Missouri–Kansas City · US

Funding

The link between dimorphism and virulence in CryptococcusR01AI097599 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA · PI LIN, XIAORONG · 2012 to 2016
$1.8M
Antifungal drug target prioritization using Cryptococcus neoformansR21AI094364 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI KANSAS CITY · PI IDNURM, ALEXANDER · 2012 to 2013
$409k
NIAID NIH HHS AI094364NIAID NIH HHS AI097599NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI097599NIAID NIH HHS R21 AI094364
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Cryptococcus neoformans is an unconventional dimorphic fungus that can grow either as a yeast or in a filamentous form. To facilitate investigation of genetic factors important for its morphogenesis and pathogenicity, congenic a and α strains for a filamentous form were constructed. XL280 (α) was selected as the background strain because of its robust ability to undergo the morphological transition from yeast to the filamentous form. The MATa allele from a sequenced strain JEC20 was introgressed into the XL280 background to generate the congenic a and α pair strains. The resulting congenic strains were then used to test the impact of mating type on virulence. In both the inhalation and the intravenous infection models of murine cryptococcosis, the congenic a and α strains displayed comparable levels of high virulence. The a-α coinfections displayed equivalent virulence to the individual a or α infections in both animal models. Further analyses of the mating type distribution in a-α coinfected mice suggested no influence of a-α interactions on cryptococcal neurotropism, irrespective of the route of inoculation. Furthermore, deletion or overexpression of a known transcription factor, Znf2, in XL280 abolished or enhanced filamentation and biofilm formation, consistent with its established role. Overexpression of Znf2 in XL280 led to attenuation of virulence and a reduced abundance in the brain but not in other organs, suggesting that Znf2 might interfere with cryptococcal neurotropism upon extrapulmonary dissemination. In summary, the congenic strains provide a new resource for the exploration of the relationship in Cryptococcus between cellular morphology and pathogenesis.

Indexed as

BiofilmsGenes, FungalAnimalsBrainCoinfectionCrosses, GeneticCryptococcosisCryptococcus neoformansFemaleGenetic MarkersMiceMice, Inbred AModels, AnimalMorphogenesisMycological Typing TechniquesPhenotypeGenetic MarkersTranscription Factors

Identifiers

PMID23670559
PMCPMC3697605
OpenAlexW2164604815

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.