Cryptococcus neoformans, a fungus under stress
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Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Size Matters: Measurement of Capsule Diameter in Cryptococcus neoformans
Published on: February 27, 2018
Sarah M Brown1, Leona T Campbell, Jennifer K Lodge
1Edward A. Doisy Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, 1402 S. Grand Boulevard, Saint Louis, MO 63104, USA. brownsm2@slu.edu
Abstract:
Cryptococcus neoformans is a human fungal pathogen that survives exposure to stresses during growth in the human host, including oxidative and nitrosative stress, high temperature, hypoxia, and nutrient deprivation. There have been many genes implicated in resistance to individual stresses. Notably, the catalases do not have the expected role in resistance to external oxidative stress, but specific peroxidases appear to be critical for resistance to both oxidative and nitrosative stresses. Signal transduction through the HOG1 and calcineurin/calmodulin pathways has been implicated in the stress response. Microarray and proteomic analyses have indicated that the common responses to stress are induction of metabolic and oxidative stress genes, and repression of genes encoding translational machinery.
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