Differentiation of Cryptococcus neoformans varieties and Cryptococcus gattii using CAP59-based loop-mediated isothermal DNA amplification

摘要

Members of the Cryptococcus species complex (C. neoformans and C gattii) are opportunistic pathogens responsible for frequently fatal cases of meningoencephalitis. These yeasts have been classified into five serotypes. Serotypes A and D are assigned to C. neoformans var. grubii and C. neoformans var. neoformans, respectively, Serotype AD strains are hybrids and serotype B and C strains are considered to belong to the related but distinct species C. gattii. Previous studies have identified 'serotype-associated' alleles of several genes in the Cryptococcus species complex. We developed a loop-mediated isothermal DNA amplification method using CAP59 allele-specific primers to identify the serotypes A, D and B/C of the Cryptococcus species complex.