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Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Automated Measurement of Cryptococcal Species Polysaccharide Capsule and Cell Body
Published on: January 11, 2018
Variability of phenotypic traits in Cryptococcus varieties and species and the resulting implications for
Gunjan Gupta1, Bettina C Fries
1Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.
Abstract:
Variability of phenotypic characteristics in Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii and var. neoformans as well as Cryptococcus gattii can have diverse effects on the virulence of these fungi and are thus important for pathogenesis. This article summarizes the diverse phenotypic changes that these fungi can manifest. We divide changes into those that affect the entire fungal population and are predominantly induced by environmental signals, and those that involve subpopulations of the fungal population and have to be selected. Last, the article summarizes the experimental evidence that epitopes on the polysaccharide capsule also vary, which may have implications for the pathogenesis as these findings would further diversify the fungal population.
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