• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
• /
• v.35 no.4
• /
• pp.170-173
• /
• 2018

A spayed female domestic short-hair cat of unknown age was admitted with a large proliferative mass in the face. Cytology and biopsy results suggested infection with Cryptococcus spp. A latex cryptococcal antigen agglutination test and an ALPHA cryptococcal antigen enzyme immunoassay yielded positive results. Results of canavanine-glycine-bromothymol blue agar test, serotyping and molecular typing by URA5 - RFLP and MLST analysis identified the isolates as C. neoformans var. grubii VNI/ST31. Two other cats were also diagnosed with the same methodology showing Crytococcosis with VNI/ST31. Cats presenting with facial or respiratory signs should be assessed for cryptococcosis in Korea.

• Mycobiology
• /
• v.42 no.1
• /
• pp.73-78
• /
• 2014

Cryptococcal infection is primarily caused by two species, Cryptococcus neoformans and C. gattii. Between the two species, C. neoformans var. grubii is the major causative agent of cryptococcosis in Asia. We investigated the molecular characteristics of 46 isolates of C. neoformans from patients with cryptococcosis between 2008 and 2012 in Seoul, Korea. All the isolates were determined to be C. neoformans var. grubii (serotype A), mating type $MAT{\alpha}$, and molecular type VNI by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism of the URA5 gene. Multilocus sequencing type (MLST) analysis using the International Society of Human and Animal Mycoses (ISHAM) consensus MLST scheme identified two sequence types (ST). Out of the 46 strains, 44 (95.7%) were identified as ST5, and remaining 2 were identified as ST31. Our study revealed that the clinical strains of C. neoformans in Korea are genetically homogeneous with the VNI/ST5 genotypes, and new appearance of VNI/ST31 genotype may serve as an important indicator of global genetic analysis.