BACKGROUNDInitially, Cryptococcus (C.) neoformans was previously divided into two varieties comprising C. neoformans var. neoformans and C. neoformans var. gattii. Currently, taxonomic studies defined C. neoformans as C. species complex, which contains C. neoformans var. neoformans (serotype D), the hybrid isolates (serotype AD), C. neoformans var. grubii (serotype A) and C. gattii (serotypes B and C). However, Liao and his team once isolated a unique C. gattii isolate, namely strain S8012 with unique phenotype from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of a 43-year-old male patient in the Shanghai Changzheng Hospital and described as C. neoformans var. shanghaiensis in 1980s. The aim of this study was to explore the genetic background and polymorphism of Chinese clinical C. gattii isolates.

METHODSS8012 was analyzed as representative strain using the M13-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) fingerprinting pattern and multilocus sequence analysis including internal transcribed spacers of rDNA (ITS region), the intergenic spacer 1 regions (IGS1), RPB1, RPB2, CNLAC1, and TEF1 genes.

RESULTSThe PCR fingerprinting pattern results showed strain S8012 belonged to molecular types VGI, and phylogenetic analysis suggested strain S8012 was grouped into the cluster of C. gattii environmental isolates originated from Eucalyptus camaldulensis trees in Australia.

CONCLUSIONC. gattii isolates from Chinese patients expresses high polymorphism on the phenotype, and molecular type VGI isolates from China have a close genetic relationship with the C. gattii isolates from Australia.