First environmental isolation of Cryptococcus gattii serotype B, from Cúcuta, Colombia
Keywords:
Cryptococcus, mycoses, environment, ecology, Colombia, sampling studies.
Abstract
Introduction. In Cúcuta, Cryptococcus gattii serotype B is commonly recovered from immunocompetent patients with cryptococcosis, but it has not been recovered from the environment in spite of its high incidence which is 77% out of reported cases.Objective. The aim of this work was to carry out an extensive environmental sampling in Cúcuta, in an attempt to isolate C. gattii serotype B and to expand our knowledge about the ecology and epidemiology of this important yeast.
Materials and methods. Samples associated with 3,634 trees from 40 zones of Cúcuta were collected and processed with 28 samples collected near the houses of four patients with cryptococcosis caused by C. gattii serotype B. The serotype of the recovered isolates was done using multiplex PCR, molecular patterns were determined by RFLP of the URA5 gene and mating type was determined using the primers MfαU, MfαL, MFa2U and MFa2L.
Results. In total, 4,389 samples were processed and one isolate of C. gattii serotype B (VGI/a), two isolates of C. gattii serotype C (VGIII/α) and three isolates of C. neoformans var. grubii, serotype A (VNI/α), were recovered. The density of the recovered isolates varied from 50 to 350 cfu/g of soil.
Conclusions. This is the first report on the environmental isolation of C. gattii serotype B from Cúcuta. However, because of the low rate of recovery of isolates from soil only, the environmental niche of C. gattii has not been established and further environmental studies in Cúcuta are necessary, owing that this serotype is not only causing cryptococcosis but also has shown a higher virulence after the Vancouver outbreak.
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References
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2. Peachey PR, Gubbins PO, Martin RE. The association between cryptococcal variety and immunocompetent and immunocompromised hosts. Pharmacotherapy. 1998;18:255-64.
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4. Sorrell TC. Cryptococcus neoformans variety gattii. Med Mycol. 2001;39:155-68.
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6. Castellá G, Abarca ML, Cabañes FJ. Cryptococcosis and pets. Rev Iberoam Micol. 2008;25:S19-24.
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26. Halliday CL, Bui T, Krockenberger M, Malik R, Ellis DH, Carter DA. Presence of alpha and a mating types in environmental and clinical collections of Cryptococcus neoformans var. gattii strains from Australia. J Clin Microbiol. 1999;37:2920-6.
27. Girish CP, Prabu D, Mitani H, Mikami Y, Menon T. Environmental isolation of Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii from living trees in Guindy National Park, Chennai, South India. Mycoses. 2010;53:262-4.
28. Randhawa HS, Kowshik T, Chowdhary A, Preeti Sinha K, Khan ZU, Sun S, et al. The expanding host tree species spectrum of Cryptococcus gattii and Cryptococcus neoformans and their isolations from surrounding soil in India. Med Mycol. 2008;46:823-33.
29. Malliaris SD, Steenbergen JN, Casadevall A. Cryptococcus neoformans var. gattii can exploit Acanthamoeba castellanii for growth. Med Mycol. 2004;42:149-58.
30. Lazéra MS, Salmito MA, Londero AT, Trilles L, Nishikawa MM, Wanke B. Possible primary ecological niche of Cryptococcus neoformans. Med Mycol. 2000;38:379-83.
31. Rosario I, Acosta B, Colom F. La paloma y otras aves como reservorio de Cryptococcus spp. Rev Iberoam Micol. 2008;25:S13-8.
32. Kidd SE, Chow Y, Mak S, Bach PJ, Chen H, Hingston AO, et al. Characterization of environmental sources of the human and animal pathogen Cryptococcus gattii in British Columbia, Canada, and the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2007;73:1433-43.
33. Granados D, Castañeda E. Isolation and characterization of Cryptococcus neoformans varieties recovered from natural sources in Bogotá, Colombia, and study of ecological conditions in the area. Microb Ecol. 2005;49:282-90.
34. Quintero E, Castañeda E, Ruiz A. Distribución ambiental de Cryptococcus neoformans en el departamento de Cundinamarca - Colombia. Rev Iberoam Micol. 2005; 22:93-8.
2. Peachey PR, Gubbins PO, Martin RE. The association between cryptococcal variety and immunocompetent and immunocompromised hosts. Pharmacotherapy. 1998;18:255-64.
3. Speed BR, Dunt D. Clinical and hosts differences between infections with the two varieties of Cryptococcus neoformans. Clin Infect Dis. 1995;21:28-34.
4. Sorrell TC. Cryptococcus neoformans variety gattii. Med Mycol. 2001;39:155-68.
5. Byrnes EJ, Bildfell RJ, Dearing PL, Valentine BA, Heitman J. Cryptococcus gattii with bimorphic colony types in a dog in western Oregon: Additional evidence for expansion of the Vancouver Island outbreak. J Vet Diagn Invest. 2009;21:133-6.
6. Castellá G, Abarca ML, Cabañes FJ. Cryptococcosis and pets. Rev Iberoam Micol. 2008;25:S19-24.
7. Duncan C, Schwantje H, Stephen C, Campbell J, Bartlett K. Cryptococcus gattii in wildlife of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. J Wildl Dis. 2006;42:175-8.
8. Velagapudi R, Hsueh YP, Geunes-Boyer S, Wright JR, Heitman J. Spores as infectious propagules of Cryptococcus neoformans. Infect Immun. 2009;77:4345-55.
9. Lizarazo J, Linares M, de Bedout C, Restrepo A, Agudelo CI, Castañeda E, et al. Results of nine years of the clinical and epidemiological survey on cryptococcosis in Colombia, 1997-2005. Biomédica. 2007;27:94-109.
10. Lizarazo J, Mendoza M, Palacios D, Vallejo A, Bustamante A, Ojeda E, et al. Criptococosis ocasionada por Cryptococcus neoformans variedad gattii. Acta Med Colomb. 2000;25:171-8.
11. Callejas A, Ordóñez N, Rodríguez MC, Castañeda E. First isolation of Cryptococcus neoformans var. gattii, serotype C, from the environment in Colombia. Med Mycol. 1998;36:341-4.
12. Escandón P, Sánchez A, Martínez M, Meyer W, Castañeda E. Molecular epidemiology of clinical and environmental isolates of the Cryptococcus neoformans species complex reveals a high genetic diversity and the presence of the molecular type VGII mating type a in Colombia. FEMS Yeast Res. 2006;6:625-35.
13. Kidd SE, Hagen F, Tscharke RL, Huynh M, Bartlett KH, Fyfe M, et al. A rare genotype of Cryptococcus gattii caused the cryptococcosis outbreak on Vancouver Island (British Columbia, Canada). PNAS. 2004;101:17258-63.
14. Stephen C, Lester S, Black W, Fyfe M, Raverty S. Multispecies outbreak of cryptococcosis on southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Can Vet J. 2002;43:792-4.
15. Ellis DH, Pfeiffer TJ. Natural habitat of Cryptococcus neoformans var. gattii. J Clin Microbiol. 1990;25:1642-4.
16. Escandón P, Quintero E, Granados D, Huérfano S, Ruiz A, Castañeda E. Aislamiento de Cryptococcus gattii serotipo B a partir de detritos de Eucalyptus spp. en Colombia. Biomédica. 2005;25:390-7.
17. Sorrell T, Brownlee A, Ruma P, Malik R, Pfeiffer T, Ellis DH. Natural environmental sources of Cryptococcus neoformans var. gattii. J Clin Microbiol. 1996;34:1261-3.
18. Alcaldía de San José de Cúcuta. [Cited: Jun 24, 2009]. Available:http://www.alcaldiadeCúcuta.gov.co/
19. Instituto de Hidrología, Meterología y Estudios Ambientales (IDEAM). Clima. [Cited: May 21, 2009]. Available: http://www2.ideam.gov.co/atlas/mclima.htm
20. Staib F, Seibold M, Antweiler E, Frohlich B, Weber S, Blisse A. The brown colour effect (BCE) of Cryptococcus neoformans in the diagnosis, control and epidemiology of C. neoformans infections of AIDS patients. Zentralbl Bakteriol Hyg. 1987;266:167-77.
21. Kwon-Chung KJ, Polachek I, Bennett JE. Improved diagnostic medium for separation of Cryptococcus neoformans var. neoformans (serotype A and D) and C. neoformans var. gattii (serotype B and C). J Clin Microbiol. 1982;15:535-7.
22. Casali A, Goulart L, Rosa e Silva L, Ribeiro A, Amaral A, Alves S, et al. Molecular typing of clinical and environmental Cryptococcus neoformans isolates in the Brazilian state Rio Grande do Soul. FEMS Yeast Res. 2003;3:405-15.
23. Ito-Kuwa S, Nakamura K, Aoki S, Vidotto V. Serotype identification of Cryptococcus neoformans by multiplex PCR. Mycoses. 2007;50:277-81.
24. Meyer W, Castañeda A, Jackson S, Huynh M, Castañeda E, IberoAmerican Cryptococcal Study Group. Molecular typing of IberoAmerican Cryptococcus neoformans isolates. Emerg Infect Dis. 2003;9:189-95.
25. Meyer W, Mitchell TG. Polymerase chain reaction fingerprinting in fungi using single primers specific to minisatellites and simple repetitive DNA sequences: Strain variation in Cryptococcus neoformans. Electrophoresis. 1995;16:1648-56.
26. Halliday CL, Bui T, Krockenberger M, Malik R, Ellis DH, Carter DA. Presence of alpha and a mating types in environmental and clinical collections of Cryptococcus neoformans var. gattii strains from Australia. J Clin Microbiol. 1999;37:2920-6.
27. Girish CP, Prabu D, Mitani H, Mikami Y, Menon T. Environmental isolation of Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii from living trees in Guindy National Park, Chennai, South India. Mycoses. 2010;53:262-4.
28. Randhawa HS, Kowshik T, Chowdhary A, Preeti Sinha K, Khan ZU, Sun S, et al. The expanding host tree species spectrum of Cryptococcus gattii and Cryptococcus neoformans and their isolations from surrounding soil in India. Med Mycol. 2008;46:823-33.
29. Malliaris SD, Steenbergen JN, Casadevall A. Cryptococcus neoformans var. gattii can exploit Acanthamoeba castellanii for growth. Med Mycol. 2004;42:149-58.
30. Lazéra MS, Salmito MA, Londero AT, Trilles L, Nishikawa MM, Wanke B. Possible primary ecological niche of Cryptococcus neoformans. Med Mycol. 2000;38:379-83.
31. Rosario I, Acosta B, Colom F. La paloma y otras aves como reservorio de Cryptococcus spp. Rev Iberoam Micol. 2008;25:S13-8.
32. Kidd SE, Chow Y, Mak S, Bach PJ, Chen H, Hingston AO, et al. Characterization of environmental sources of the human and animal pathogen Cryptococcus gattii in British Columbia, Canada, and the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2007;73:1433-43.
33. Granados D, Castañeda E. Isolation and characterization of Cryptococcus neoformans varieties recovered from natural sources in Bogotá, Colombia, and study of ecological conditions in the area. Microb Ecol. 2005;49:282-90.
34. Quintero E, Castañeda E, Ruiz A. Distribución ambiental de Cryptococcus neoformans en el departamento de Cundinamarca - Colombia. Rev Iberoam Micol. 2005; 22:93-8.
How to Cite
1.
Firacative C, Torres G, Rodríguez MC, Escandón P. First environmental isolation of Cryptococcus gattii serotype B, from Cúcuta, Colombia. biomedica [Internet]. 2011 Apr. 16 [cited 2024 May 18];31(1):118-23. Available from: https://revistabiomedica.org/index.php/biomedica/article/view/342
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