Basidiomycota is one of two large divisions that, together with the Ascomycota, constitute the subkingdom Dikarya within the kingdom Fungi. Members are known as basidiomycetes. More specifically, Basidiomycota includes these groups: agarics, puffballs, stinkhorns, bracket fungi, other polypores, jelly fungi, boletes, chanterelles, earth stars, smuts, bunts, rusts, mirror yeasts, and Cryptococcus, the human pathogenic yeast.
Cryptococcus is a genus of fungi in the family Cryptococcaceae that includes both yeasts and filamentous species. The filamentous, sexual forms or teleomorphs were formerly classified in the genus Filobasidiella, while Cryptococcus was reserved for the yeasts. Most yeast species formerly referred to Cryptococcus have now been placed in different genera. The name Cryptococcus comes from the Greek for "hidden sphere". Some Cryptococcus species cause a disease called cryptococcosis.
Cryptococcus neoformans is an encapsulated yeast belonging to the class Tremellomycetes and an obligate aerobe that can live in both plants and animals. Its teleomorph is a filamentous fungus, formerly referred to Filobasidiella neoformans. In its yeast state, it is often found in bird excrement. Cryptococcus neoformans can cause disease in apparently immunocompetent, as well as immunocompromised, hosts.
Cryptococcosis is a potentially fatal fungal infection of mainly the lungs, presenting as a pneumonia, and brain, where it appears as a meningitis. Cough, difficulty breathing, chest pain and fever are seen when the lungs are infected. When the brain is infected, symptoms include headache, fever, neck pain, nausea and vomiting, light sensitivity and confusion or changes in behavior. It can also affect other parts of the body including skin, where it may appear as several fluid-filled nodules with dead tissue.
Cryptococcus gattii, formerly known as Cryptococcus neoformans var. gattii, is an encapsulated yeast found primarily in tropical and subtropical climates. Its teleomorph is Filobasidiella bacillispora, a filamentous fungus belonging to the class Tremellomycetes.
Exophiala jeanselmei is a saprotrophic fungus in the family Herpotrichiellaceae. Four varieties have been discovered: Exophiala jeanselmei var. heteromorpha, E. jeanselmei var. lecanii-corni, E. jeanselmei var. jeanselmei, and E. jeanselmei var. castellanii. Other species in the genus Exophiala such as E. dermatitidis and E. spinifera have been reported to have similar annellidic conidiogenesis and may therefore be difficult to differentiate.
Pathogenic fungi are fungi that cause disease in humans or other organisms. Although fungi are eukaryotic, many pathogenic fungi are microorganisms. Approximately 300 fungi are known to be pathogenic to humans; their study is called "medical mycology". Fungal infections kill more people than either tuberculosis or malaria—about 2 million people per year.
A fungus is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one of the traditional eukaryotic kingdoms, along with Animalia, Plantae and either Protista or Protozoa and Chromista.
A blastoconidium is an asexual holoblastic conidia formed through the blowing out or budding process of a yeast cell, which is a type of asexual reproduction that results in a bud arising from a parent cell. The production of a blastoconidium can occur along a true hyphae, pseudohyphae, or a singular yeast cell. The word "conidia" comes from the Greek word konis and eidos, konis meaning dust and eidos meaning like. The term "bud" comes from the Greek word blastos, which means bud. Yeasts such as Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans produce these budded cells known as blastoconidia.
Exophiala dermatitidis is a thermophilic black yeast, and a member of the Herpotrichiellaceae. While the species is only found at low abundance in nature, metabolically active strains are commonly isolated in saunas, steam baths, and dish washers. Exophiala dermatitidis only rarely causes infection in humans, however cases have been reported around the world. In East Asia, the species has caused lethal brain infections in young and otherwise healthy individuals. The fungus has been known to cause cutaneous and subcutaneous phaeohyphomycosis, and as a lung colonist in people with cystic fibrosis in Europe. In 2002, an outbreak of systemic E. dermatitidis infection occurred in women who had received contaminated steroid injections at North Carolina hospitals.
Malassezia pachydermatis is a zoophilic yeast in the division Basidiomycota. It was first isolated in 1925 by Fred Weidman, and it was named pachydermatis after the original sample taken from an Indian rhinoceros with severe exfoliative dermatitis. Within the genus Malassezia, M. pachydermatis is most closely related to the species M. furfur. A commensal fungus, it can be found within the microflora of healthy mammals such as humans, cats and dogs, However, it is capable of acting as an opportunistic pathogen under special circumstances and has been seen to cause skin and ear infections, most often occurring in canines.
Joseph Heitman is an American physician-scientist focused on research in genetics, microbiology, and infectious diseases. He is the James B. Duke Professor and Chair of the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at Duke University School of Medicine.
Rhoda Williams Benham was an American mycologist, taxonomist, and pioneer of the field of medical mycology. Throughout her career, she taught and trained many medical mycologists at Columbia University, while also conducting and publishing fundamental research in the field. Her most renowned works include her publications on the genus Candida, which established her as an authority on the yeast-like fungi pathogenic to man.
Chester Wilson Emmons was an American scientist, who researched fungi that cause diseases. He was the first mycologist at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where for 31 years he served as head of its Medical Mycology Section.
Naganishia is a genus of fungi in the family Filobasidiaceae. Species are currently only known from their yeast states, most of which were formerly referred to the genus Cryptococcus. Some 15 species have been described worldwide. Naganishia albida is an occasional human pathogen.
Naganishia vishniacii is an extremophile fungus originally isolated as a yeast from soil samples in the dry valleys of Antarctica. The species grows at 4 degrees Celsius and below but not at 26 degrees Celsius and above. Visually it is characterized as a cream mass in culture. It is nonfermentative and assimilates glucose, maltose, melezitose, trehalose, and xylose. Molecular research, based on cladistic analysis of DNA sequences, shows that the species does not belong in the Cryptococcaceae.
Naganishia antarctica is a yeast species that has been isolated from soil in Antarctica.
Naganishia adeliensis is a species of fungus in the family Filobasidiaceae. It is currently only known from its yeast state, isolated from decaying algae in Antarctica.
Naganishia albidosimilis is a species of fungus in the family Filobasidiaceae. It is currently only known from its yeast state, isolated from soil in Antarctica.
Papiliotrema laurentii is a species of fungus in the family Rhynchogastremaceae. It is typically isolated in its yeast state.
