Fungi must meet four criteria to infect humans: growth at human body temperatures,
circumvention or penetration of surface barriers, lysis and absorption of tissue, and …

Cryptococcus neoformans is a ubiquitous environmental fungus and an opportunistic
pathogen that causes fatal cryptococcal meningitis. Advances in genomics, genetics, and …

Pneumocystis jirovecii is a major cause of life-threatening pneumonia in immunosuppressed
patients including transplant recipients and those with HIV/AIDS, yet surprisingly little is …

The kingdom Fungi comprises species that inhabit nearly all ecosystems. Fungi exist as both
free-living and symbiotic unicellular and multicellular organisms with diverse morphologies …

Almost all eukaryotes undergo sexual reproduction to generate diversity and select for
fitness in their population pools. Interestingly, the systems by which sex is defined are highly …

Pneumocystis, a unique atypical fungus with an elusive lifestyle, has had an important
medical history. It came to prominence as an opportunistic pathogen that not only can cause …

Cell differentiation in yeast species is controlled by a reversible, programmed DNA-
rearrangement process called mating-type switching. Switching is achieved by two …

Sexual reproduction likely evolved as protection from environmental stresses, specifically, to
repair DNA damage, often via homologous recombination. In higher eukaryotes, meiosis …

Sexual reproduction is conserved throughout each supergroup within the eukaryotic tree of
life, and therefore thought to have evolved once and to have been present in the last …

Cryptococcus neoformans is a dimorphic fungus that causes lethal meningoencephalitis
mainly in immunocompromised individuals. Different morphotypes enable this …