Original article Cryptococcus gattii VGII in a Plathymenia reticulata hollow in Cuiab a, Mato Grosso, Brazil Mariana Caselli Anzai, 1 M arcia dos Santos Laz era, 2 Bodo Wanke, 2 Luciana Trilles, 2 Val  eria Dutra, 3 Daphine Ariadne Jesus de Paula, 3 Luciano Nakazato, 3 Doracilde Terumi Takahara, 1 Walquirya Borges Simi 1 and Rosane Christine Hahn 1 1 Laborat  orio de Micologia, Faculdade de Ci ^ encias M edicas, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiab a, MT, Brazil, 2 Laborat  orio de Micologia, Instituto de Pesquisa Cl  ınica Evandro Chagas – Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil and 3 Laborat  orio de Biologia Molecular Veterin aria, Faculdade de Agronomia e Medicina Veterin aria, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiab a, MT, Brazil Summary Little is known about the ecology of agents of cryptococcosis in Mato Grosso, with- out any data regarding to the sources of both agents in the environment. This study aimed to investigate Cryptococcus gattii and Cryptococcus neoformans associated with decay in tree hollows within the urban area of three different cities of Mato Grosso. Seventy-two environmental samples collected from 72 living trees in the cities of Cuiab a, V arzea Grande and Chapada dos Guimar~ aes were sampled and analysed. One tree (Plathymenia reticulata, Leguminosae) in the city of Cuiab a yielded 19 colo- nies identified as C. gattii molecular type VGII. The isolation of C. gattii VGII in the downtown city of Cuiab a is important because it fits in the Northern Macroregion, suggesting expanding and urbanisation of this genotype in different Brazilian cities. Key words: C. gattii, VGII, P. reticulata, tree hollow, Cryptococcus sp., Brazil. Introduction Cryptococcus neoformans and C. gattii may cause severe systemic infection and have been isolated from numer- ous environmental sources. While C. neoformans causes predominantly opportunistic disease, C. gattii occurs mainly in non-immunocompromised individu- als. Both species are acquired through inhalation of viable spores and manifest mostly in the lungs and central nervous system, resulting in severe meningitis. 1–3 For many years, C. neoformans has been repeatedly isolated from pigeon habitats in urban areas, while the environmental source of C. gattii remained unknown. After the first isolation of C. gattii from Eucalyptus cam- aldulensis debris by Ellis and Pfeiffer [4] it was believed that its natural habitat is quite distinct from that of C. neoformans. However, after the outbreak by C. gattii (AFLP6/VGII) on Vancouver Island, Canada, 5 this assumption had to be revised. In fact, at this outbreak, C. gattii has been isolated from samples of different tree species, soil, air and even from water. 3,5,6 This out- break was unique and this region is still considered endemic for C. gattii. 7 In 2010, Springer and Chaturv- edi [3] mapped the worldwide presence of C. gattii and verified that it has been isolated on all continents, in both tropical/subtropical and temperate regions. In Brazil, C. gattii and C. neoformans have been iso- lated on south, southeast, north and northeast regions from several different tree hollows, without preference for any plant species, even cohabiting a single tree hollow. 8–11 However, in the central-western region, only the study by Souza et al. [12] report on the isola- tion of C. neoformans from eucalyptus trees in the city of Goi^ ania. Moreover, C. gattii has not yet been iso- lated from environmental sources in this region, Correspondence: R. C. Hahn, PhD, Laborat orio de Micologia - Faculdade de Ci^ encias M edicas (FM), Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso – UFMT Av. Fernando Corr^ ea da Costa, nº 2367, Bairro Boa Esperanc ßa, Cuiab a 78060-900, MT, Brazil. Tel./Fax: +55 (65) 3615-8809. E-mail: rchahn@terra.com.br Submitted for publication 10 October 2013 Revised 17 January 2014 Accepted for publication 20 January 2014 © 2014 Blackwell Verlag GmbH Mycoses, 2014, 57, 414–418 doi:10.1111/myc.12177 mycoses Diagnosis,Therapy and Prophylaxis of Fungal Diseases