Gene

Biology

Pathogen

Cryptococcal meningitis

Viral disease

Botany

Hypha

Fungus

Genetics

Cryptococcus

Model organism

Human pathogen

Microbiology

Pathogenic fungus

Cryptococcus neoformans

Virus

Organism

Fungal pathogen

Yeast

Cryptococcosis

Annual Review of Microbiology

Cryptococcus neoformans is a ubiquitous environmental fungus and an opportunistic pathogen that causes fatal cryptococcal meningitis. Advances in genomics, genetics, and cellular and molecular biology of C. neoformans have dramatically improved our understanding of this important pathogen, rendering it a model organism to study eukaryotic biology and microbial pathogenesis. In light of recent progress, we describe in this review the life cycle of C. neoformans with a special emphasis on the regulation of the yeast-to-hypha transition and different modes of sexual reproduction, in addition to the impacts of the life cycle on cryptococcal populations and pathogenesis.

Life Cycle of<i>Cryptococcus neoformans</i>

Life Cycle ofCryptococcus neoformans