Won Hee Jung

TL;DR: Cryptococcus neoformans is generally considered to be an opportunistic fungal pathogen because of its tendency to infect immunocompromised individuals, particularly those infected with HIV as mentioned in this paper.

TL;DR: The fungus is remarkably tuned to perceive iron as part of the disease process, as confirmed by the avirulence of the cir1 mutant; this characteristic of the pathogen may provide opportunities for antifungal treatment.

TL;DR: Genetic comparisons revealed that the genomes of the two representative C. gattii strains (genotypes VGI and VGIIa) are colinear for the majority of chromosomes, with some minor rearrangements, however, multiortholog phylogenetic analysis and an evaluation of gene/sequence conservation support the existence of speciation within the C. Gattii complex.

TL;DR: Results indicate that C. neoformans utilizes iron sources within the host that require Cft1 and a reductive iron uptake system, suggesting a requirement for reductiveIron acquisition during cryptococcal meningitis.

TL;DR: Results indicated that C. neoformans employs multiple strategies for iron acquisition during infection, and found that HapX appears to have a minimal role during infection of mammalian hosts and instead may be an important regulator of environmental iron uptake functions.