A Diverse Population of Cryptococcus gattii Molecular Type VGIII in Southern Californian HIV/AIDS Patients
Figure 8
Isolates from the VGIIIa group exhibit increased virulence compared to VGIIIb in an in vivo murine model of infection.
A) Groups of five animals were each infected with an infectious inoculum of 1.0×105 cells, and the survival of animals plotted against days post-infection. The legend is arranged from most virulent (top) to least virulent (bottom, based on survival). VGIIIa isolates are indicated by orange coloration and VGIIIb isolates are indicated by green coloration. B) C. gattii infections cause notable weight loss associated with the virulence level of strains. BALB/c mice were infected with 1.0×105 yeast cells via the intranasal instillation route. The weight of each animal was monitored every other day after infection while asymptomatic. When the animals began to exhibit symptoms of infection, weight was measured daily and plotted.