AUTHOR=Benaducci Tatiane , Sardi Janaina de C. O. , Lourencetti Natalia M. S. , Scorzoni Liliana , Gullo Fernanda P. , Rossi Suélen A. , Derissi Jaqueline B. , de Azevedo Prata Márcia C.  , Fusco-Almeida Ana M. , Mendes-Giannini Maria J. S. 

TITLE=Virulence of Cryptococcus sp. Biofilms In Vitro and In Vivo using Galleria mellonella as an Alternative Model

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2016

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2016.00290

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2016.00290

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Cryptococcus neoformans</italic> and <italic>C. gattii</italic> are fungal pathogens that are most commonly found in infections of the central nervous system, which cause life-threatening meningoencephalitis and can grow as a biofilm. Biofilms are structures conferring protection and resistance of microorganism to the antifungal drugs. This study compared the virulence of planktonic and biofilm cells of <italic>C. neoformans</italic> and <italic>C. gattii</italic> in <italic>Galleria mellonella</italic> model, as well as, the quantification of gene transcripts <italic>LAC1</italic>, <italic>URE1</italic>, and <italic>CAP59</italic> by real time PCR. All three of the genes showed significantly increased expressions in the biofilm conditions for two species of <italic>Cryptococcus</italic>, when compared to planktonic cells. <italic>C. neoformans</italic> and <italic>C. gattii</italic> cells in the biofilm forms were more virulent than the planktonic cells in <italic>G. mellonella</italic>. This suggests that the biofilm conditions may contribute to the virulence profile. Our results contribute to a better understanding of the agents of cryptococcosis in the host-yeast aspects of the interaction.</p>