Approaches on genetic polymorphism of Cryptococcus species complex.

The Cryptococcus species complex is the significant pathogenic fungi that result in over 1 million cases of cryptococcosis each year in the world. Proper strategy for genetic polymorphism study of the Cryptococcus species complex is crucial to unfold genetic population structure, spread profile and pathogenicity of these pathogenic yeasts worldwide. Currently, an array of approaches, including serotype, PCR fingerprinting, amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP), analysis of DNA sequence, and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry(MALDI-TOF MS) etc. improved our understanding of genetic diversity or phylogenetic of Cryptococcus species complex. This review synthesizes existing techniques of cryptococcal genetic polymorphism and raises issues that remain to be addressed.