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A rapid method for detecting extracellular proteinase activity in Cryptococcus neoformans and a survey of 63 isolates

PATRICIA RUMA-HAYNES^*,, ALAN G. BROWNLEE and TANIA C. SORRELL^*

*Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW and CSIRO Animal Production, Prospect, NSW, Australia

Corresponding author: P. Ruma-Haynes (e-mail: pruma{at}prospect.anprod.csiro.au).

Received 1 Nov. 1999; accepted 7 Jan. 2000.

Abstract

A rapid method to detect extracellular proteolytic activity around colonies of Cryptococcus neoformans was developed with tannic acid used to complex with residual protein in a solid medium. A survey was conducted with 32 isolates of C. neoformans var. gattii and 31 isolates of C. neoformans var. neoformans which were cultured on medium containing gelatin as the sole nitrogen source. The annulus of clearing around fungal colonies was >1.25mumm in 24 (77%) isolates of C. neoformans var. neoformans compared with only 7 (22%) isolates of C. neoformans var. gattii. There was no difference in proteolytic activity between environmental and human clinical isolates of C. neoformans. However, there was a difference between the size of the annulus around animal isolates of C. neoformans var. neoformans and isolates of the same variety from other sources. The annuli around the 14 animal isolates were all >1.25mumm, while 7 (70%) of 10 human clinical isolates and only 3 (43%) of 7 environmental isolates were scored in the high proteinase range. A difference between the genetic types (as characterised by RAPD typing) of C. neoformans var. gattii was also evident with 17 (77%) of 22 VG-I isolates having a small annulus compared with only 1 (17%) of 6 VG-II and VG-III isolates with annuli of similar size. Relatively low proteinase production by C. neoformans var. gattii may reduce local and systemic spread of infection in mammalian hosts.