Evidence of same-sex mating in nature: the story of Cryptococcus neoformansOctober 19, 2007Cryptococcus neoformans is a major cause of fungal meningitis in predominantly immunocomprised individuals. This fungus has two mating-types/sexes, and mating typically requires two individuals with opposite mating types. It had been a mystery why one mating type is overwhelmingly predominant in nature and how the capacity for sexual reproduction is maintained in a largely unisex population. In an article published in PLoS Genetics, Xiaorong Lin and colleagues from Duke University Medical Center analyzed natural Cryptococcus diploid hybrid isolates containing two á alleles of different serotypic origins. Natural áADá hybrids that arose by fusion between two á cells of different serotypes (A and D) were identified and characterized, demonstrating that same-sex mating transpires in nature. Same-sex mating had been observed under laboratory conditions, but direct evidence for naturally occurring same-sex mating was lacking. This study provides the first evidence of this and sheds light on the genetic and environmental factors that play important roles in the evolution of the current population structure of this pathogenic fungus. Public Library of Science | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Related Cryptococcus Current Events and Cryptococcus News Articles Catching the blood cell bus gives fatal yeast infection a clean getaway Yeast fungus cells that kill thousands of AIDS patients every year escape detection by our bodies' defences by hiding inside our own defence cells, and hitch a ride through our systems before attacking and spreading, scientists heard today (Tuesday 9 September 2008) at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn meeting being held this week at Trinity College, Dublin. Einstein scientists treat cancer as an infectious disease -- with promising results Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have shown for the first time that cancers can be successfully treated by targeting the viruses that cause them. Infectious disease researchers develop basis for experimental melanoma treatment While investigating a fungus known to cause an infection in people with AIDS, two grantees of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), unexpectedly discovered a potential strategy for treating metastatic melanoma, one of the deadliest forms of skin cancer. Skeletal Muscle Repairs the Heart; Gray Wolves Maintain the Food Chain in Winter: Press Release from PLoS Biology Heart Repair Gets New Muscle Some organs in the human body deal with injury better than others. A flesh wound or muscle tear might hurt, but, assuming you are otherwise healthy, both will heal. The prognosis for a heart attack, on the other hand, is not so clear-cut. More Cryptococcus Current Events and Cryptococcus News Articles |
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