NATURAL ENVIRONMENTAL SOURCES OF CRYPTOCOCCUS-NEOFORMANS VAR GATTII

We sought evidence for new environmental sources of Cryptococcus neofo rmans var. gattii by random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) an alysis of isolates from 29 animals with a restricted territorial range in five. Australian states. Twenty-three of the 29 isolates and 45 of 45 eucalypt isolates tested previously exhibited one RAPD profile, VG I. RAPD profile VGII was identified in 6 of 17 isolates from domestica ted species but in none of 12 native species. Four VGII isolates origi nated from an area of Western Australia with no natural stands of know n eucalypt host, indicating the existence of at least one unrecognized natural source of C. neoformans var. gattii.