University of Massachusetts Medical School Faculty Publications
Title
The Case for Adopting the "Species Complex" Nomenclature for the Etiologic Agents of Cryptococcosis
UMMS Affiliation
Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology
Publication Date
2017-01-11
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Biodiversity | Genetics and Genomics | Microbiology
Abstract
Cryptococcosis is a potentially lethal disease of humans/animals caused by Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii. Distinction between the two species is based on phenotypic and genotypic characteristics. Recently, it was proposed that C. neoformans be divided into two species and C. gattii into five species based on a phylogenetic analysis of 115 isolates. While this proposal adds to the knowledge about the genetic diversity and population structure of cryptococcosis agents, the published genotypes of 2,606 strains have already revealed more genetic diversity than is encompassed by seven species. Naming every clade as a separate species at this juncture will lead to continuing nomenclatural instability. In the absence of biological differences between clades and no consensus about how DNA sequence alone can delineate a species, we recommend using "Cryptococcus neoformans species complex" and "C. gattii species complex" as a practical intermediate step, rather than creating more species. This strategy recognizes genetic diversity without creating confusion.
Keywords
Cryptococcosis, Cryptococcus gattii, Cryptococcus neoformans, clade, genetic diversity, new nomenclature, species complex
Rights and Permissions
Copyright © 2017 Kwon-Chung et al.
DOI of Published Version
10.1128/mSphere.00357-16
Source
mSphere. 2017 Jan 11;2(1). pii: e00357-16. doi: 10.1128/mSphere.00357-16. Link to article on publisher's site
Related Resources
Journal/Book/Conference Title
mSphere
PubMed ID
28101535
Repository Citation
Kwon-Chung KJ, Levitz SM. (2017). The Case for Adopting the "Species Complex" Nomenclature for the Etiologic Agents of Cryptococcosis. University of Massachusetts Medical School Faculty Publications. https://doi.org/10.1128/mSphere.00357-16. Retrieved from https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/faculty_pubs/1213
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
Full author list omitted for brevity. For full list of authors see article.