Cryptococcus gattii

**Semantic type:** Fungus

**Definition:** An encapsulated yeast in the phylum Basidiomycota. This species is globose to ovoid shaped, urease-positive, pseudohyphae- and nitrate-negative, does not ferment sugars, and assimilates glucose, maltose, sucrose, galactose, trehalose, raffinose, inositol, cellobiose, rhamnose, arabinose, melezitose and xylose. C. gattii is a human opportunistic pathogen and causes pulmonary cryptococcosis, basal meningitis and cerebral cryptococcomas in immunocompromised hosts. It is also associated with skin, soft tissue, lymph node, bone, and joint infections.

**Synonyms:** - C. bacillisporus - C. gattii - CRYPTOCOCCUS GATTII - Cryptococcus bacillisporus