• Mycobiology
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.152-157
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• 2014

The iron uptake and utilization pathways play a critical role in allowing human pathogens, including Cryptococcus neoformans, the causative agent of fatal meningoencephalitis, to survive within the mammalian body by competing with the host for iron. Here we show that the iron regulon is also required for diverse environmental stress responses and that in C. neoformans, it is regulated by the high-osmolarity glycerol response (HOG) pathway. Between CFO1 and CFO2, two ferroxidase genes in the iron regulon, CFO1 but not CFO2 was induced during oxidative and osmotic stress. Interestingly, we found that the HOG pathway repressed basal expression of both CFO1 and CFO2. Furthermore, when the HOG pathway was blocked, CFO2 also responded to oxidative and osmotic stress and the response of CFO1 was increased. We also established that CFO1 plays a major role in responding and adapting to diverse environmental stresses, including oxidative and genotoxic damage, osmotic fluctuations, heavy metal stress, and stress induced by cell membrane destabilizers. Therefore, our findings indicate that in C. neoformans, the iron uptake and utilization pathways are not only required for iron acquisition and survival, but also play a significant role in the environmental stress response through crosstalk with the HOG pathway.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.20-24
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• 2002

We have from water samples of Kwalim, Dochang, and Mulwang reservoirs in Kyonggi-Do, where cyanobacteria blooming occurred. Isolated microbes which have lytic activity for cyanobacteria. Water samples were smeared on the Anabaena cylindrica lawn and incubated in light chamber at $28^\circ{C}$, under 3000 lux for 13 days. A fungus having cyanobacterial lytic activity was isolated from the samples of Dochang reservoir. The isolate was identified as Cryptococcus laurentii by Vitek system. From the culture of the isolate, four major extracellular protein bands (29, 35.2, 40.9, 51.1 kDa) have been detected and the 29 kDa protein band was more thickly appeared in the culture with cyanobacteria.

• Mycobiology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.161-170
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• 2009

Cryptococcus neoformans is a basidiomycete human fungal pathogen that causes meningoencephalitis in both immunocompromised and immunocompetent individuals. The ability to sense and respond to diverse extracellular signals is essential for the pathogen to infect and cause disease in the host. Four major stress-activated signaling (SAS) pathways have been characterized in C. neoformans, including the HOG (high osmolarity glycerol response), PKC/Mpk1 MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase), calcium-dependent calcineurin, and RAS signaling pathways. The HOG pathway in C. neoformans not only controls responses to diverse environmental stresses, including osmotic shock, UV irradiation, oxidative stress, heavy metal stress, antifungal drugs, toxic metabolites, and high temperature, but also regulates ergosterol biosynthesis. The PKC(protein kinase C)/Mpk1 pathway in C. neoformans is involved in a variety of stress responses, including osmotic, oxidative, and nitrosative stresses and breaches of cell wall integrity. The $Ca^{2+}$/calmodulin- and Ras-signaling pathways also play critical roles in adaptation to certain environmental stresses, such as high temperature and sexual differentiation. Perturbation of the SAS pathways not only impairs the ability of C. neoformans to resist a variety of environmental stresses during host infection, but also affects production of virulence factors, such as capsule and melanin. A drug(s) capable of targeting signaling components of the SAS pathway will be effective for treatment of cryptococcosis.

• Mycobiology
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.235-242
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• 2011

In contrast to the nuclear genome, the mitochondrial genome does not follow Mendelian laws of inheritance. The nuclear genome of meiotic progeny comes from the recombination of both parental genomes, whereas the meiotic progeny could inherit mitochondria from one, the other, or both parents. In fact, one fascinating phenomenon is that mitochondrial DNA in the majority of eukaryotes is inherited from only one particular parent. Typically, such unidirectional and uniparental inheritance of mitochondrial DNA can be explained by the size of the gametes involved in mating, with the larger gamete contributing towards mitochondrial DNA inheritance. However, in the human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans, bisexual mating involves the fusion of two isogamous cells of mating type (MAT) a and MAT${\alpha}$, yet the mitochondrial DNA is inherited predominantly from the MATa parent. Although the exact mechanism underlying such uniparental mitochondrial inheritance in this fungus is still unclear, various hypotheses have been proposed. Elucidating the mechanism of mitochondrial inheritance in this clinically important and genetically amenable eukaryotic microbe will yield insights into general mechanisms that are likely conserved in higher eukaryotes. In this review, we highlight studies on Cryptococcus mitochondrial inheritance and point out some important questions that need to be addressed in the future.

• Mycobiology
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.173-182
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• 2021

Recently, Cryptococcus pseudolongus has been reported as a new pathogen of shiitake (Lentinula edodes). However, its pathological properties are not much known. To further understand its impact on the mushroom, we investigated the pathogen's interactions with the mycelium of shiitake, histopathological properties, host range, and sensitivity to diverse antifungal agents. The strain C. pseudolongus DUCC 4014 inhibited the mycelial growth of L. edodes strain (cultivar Sanjo 701ho) and caused browning in the mycelia confronted with the yeast on PDA. Spray inoculation of the yeast caused an abnormal browning symptom on the cap and/or gills of three shiitake cultivars grown on sawdust media in vinyl bags. Scanning electron microscopic images of the abnormally browned parts of shiitake fruit body illustrated that mushroom tissues were loosed and dispersed in the middle and edge of the cap and the arrangement of basidiospores borne on basidia in the gills was disturbed compared to those of normal shiitake fruit body. Spray inoculation also led to developing abnormal browning on the harvested fruit body, indicating C. pseudolongus could be a problem during mushroom storage. But the yeast was not able to induce abnormal browning on mushrooms of Pleurotus ferulae, Pleurotus fostreatus, and Agaricus bisporus. But it induced browning only on button mushroom (A. bisporus) when they were inoculated after wounding. Tests with 16 kinds of fungicides revealed that the cell growth of C. pseudolongus could be inhibited by benzalkonium chloride at MIC 7 ㎍/ml and benomyl at MIC 3 ㎍/ml.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.2119-2128
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• 2017

Citrinin (CIT) is a toxic secondary metabolite produced by fungi belonging to the Penicillium, Aspergillus, and Monascus spp. This toxin has been detected in many agricultural products. In this study, a strain Y3 with the ability to eliminate CIT was screened and identified as Cryptococcus podzolicus, based on the sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer region. Neither uptake of CIT by cells nor adsorption by cell wall was involved in CIT elimination by Cryptococcus podzolicus Y3. The extracellular metabolites of Cryptococcus podzolicus Y3 stimulated by CIT or not showed no degradation for CIT. It indicated that CIT elimination was attributed to the degradation of intracellular enzyme(s). The degradation of CIT by C. podzolicus Y3 was dependent on the type of media, yeast concentration, temperature, pH, and initial concentration of CIT. Most of the CIT was degraded by C. podzolicus Y3 in NYDB medium at 42 h but not in PDB medium. The degradation rate of CIT was the highest (94%) when the concentration of C. podzolicus Y3 was $1{\times}10^8cells/ml$. The quantity of CIT degradation was highest at $28^{\circ}C$, and there was no degradation observed at 3$5^{\circ}C$. The study also showed that acidic condition (pH 4.0) was the most favorable for CIT degradation by C. podzolicus Y3. The degradation rate of CIT increased to 98% as the concentration of CIT was increased to $20{\mu}g/ml$. The toxicity of CIT degradation product(s) toward HEK293 was much lower than that of CIT.

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.148-149
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• 2009

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.33-40
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• 2017

To isolate and identify the yeast strains associated with D. morbifera, homogenized D. morbifera root samples were spread onto GPY, DG18, SCG and DOB agar media containing antibiotics, Triton X-100, and l-sorbose. Total 81 yeast isolates were analyzed by sequencing of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the ribosomal DNA. The results showed that the root-associated yeast species were composed of the genera Vanderwaltozyma (40 isolates), Cryptococcus (40 isolates), and Kluyveromyces (one isolate). Moreover, the Kluyveromyces isolate exhibited high bioethanol productivity. In addition, the Vanderwaltozyma and Cryptococcus were dominant in D. morbifera roots. The specific yeast community associated with D. morbifera roots was identified by phylogenetic sequence analyses. These yeast isolates may have industrial applications as biosurfactant and bioethanol.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.139-149
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• 2010

The present study was carried out to elucidate whether an environmental strain of Cryptococcus neoformans (environmental C. neoformans) isolated from an environmental source in a park of Busan has an acute pathophysiological effect in rats. On the second day after peritoneal inoculation of environmental C. neoformans, adverse effects occurred from the viewpoint of hematology and biochemistry. Eosinophil damages and crystal formations were found in the blood. Disturbances in cytokines production were observed in the cerebral and pulmonary tissues. Fungal budding existed in the brain, lung, liver and kidney. Tissue injury findings such as inflammation, leukocyte infiltration, bleeding, or degeneration were found in the brain, lung, liver and kidney. The present data suggest that the environmental C. neoformans can cause systematically harmful effects even for short periods of infection (two days of cryptococcal infection) and the adverse effects are summarized as immune derangements and biochemical and/or histological dysfunction and injury on major organ such as the brain, lung, liver and kidney in the immunocompetent hosts. Further studies should be focused on comparing the differences between environmental and clinical strains of C. neoformans.

• Mycobiology
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.198-202
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• 2014

Two new yeast records, Cryptococcus adeliensis YJ19-2 and Cryptococcus uzbekistanensis YJ10-4 were screened from 60 yeasts strains that were isolated and identified from wild flowers in Yokjido, Gyeongsangnam-do, Korea. The morphological and cultural characteristics of the newly recorded yeasts and the physiological functionalities of the supernatants and cell-free extracts obtained from their cultures were investigated. The two newly recorded yeasts did not form ascospores and pseudomycelia. They also grew well in yeast extract-peptone-dextrose broth. C. uzbekistanensis YJ10-4 grew in a vitamin-free medium and was also tolerant to sugar and salt. Antihypertensive angiotensin I-converting enzyme inhibitory activity of the supernatant from C. adeliensis YJ19-2 was high (71.8%) and its cell-free extract also showed very high (81.2%) antidiabetic $\acute{a}$-glucosidase inhibitory activity.