Cryptococcus - General Characteristics

General Characteristics

The cells of these species are covered in a thin layer of glycoprotein capsular material that has a gelatin-like consistency and that, among other functions, serves to help extract nutrients from the soil. But C. neoformans capsule is different in being richer in glucuronic acid and mannose, having O-acetyl groups, and functioning as the major virulence factor in cryptococcal infection and disease.

Read more about this topic:  Cryptococcus

Famous quotes containing the word general:

    What use Milton, a silly story
    Of our lost general parents,
    eaters of fruit?
    Gary Snyder (b. 1930)