Genetic and Genomic Approaches to Cryptococcus Environmental and Host Responses

Abstract

Infection with Cryptococcus species is often considered an AIDS-defining illness, the outbreak of Cryptococcus gattii on Vancouver Island underscores the broad potential of the Cryptococcus neoformans species complex to evade host immune defenses and cause disease. There are several simple developments that need to be made to maximize the use of C. neoformans genomes. One development is the publication of the genomes of the serotype A and C. gattii strains and a finalized nomenclature for each gene in each strain sequenced, preferably as similar to other designations as possible. Examples of larger-scale screens include a series on melanin, morphology, suppressor screens of light sensitivity..