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DATING THE CRYPTOCOCCUS GATTII DISPERSAL TO THE NORTH AMERICAN PACIFIC NORTHWEST
Author
Affilliation
Translational Genomics Research Institute. Flagstaff, AZ, USA.
Translational Genomics Research Institute. Flagstaff, AZ, USA.
Washington State Department of Health. Shoreline, WA, USA.
Oregon Health Authority. Public Health Division. Salem, OR, USA.
Institut National de Santé Publique du Québec. Laboratoire de Santé Publique du Québec. Charlottetown, PE, Canada.
Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative. Charlottetown, PE, Canada / University of Prince Edward Island. Atlantic Veterinary College. Charlottetown, PE, Canada.
Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative. Charlottetown, PE, Canada / University of Prince Edward Island. Atlantic Veterinary College. Charlottetown, PE, Canada / Agriculture and Agrifood Canada. Ottawa Research and Development Centre. Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mycotic Disease Branch. Atlanta, GA, USA.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mycotic Disease Branch. Atlanta, GA, USA.
Westmead Institute. Center for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology. Molecular Mycology Research Laboratory. Sydney, NSW, Australia / University of Sydney. Marie Bashir Institute for Emerging Infections and Biosecurity. Sydney, NSW, Australia / University of Sydney. Westmead Clinical School. Sydney, NSW, Australia / University of Sydney. Sydney Medical School. Sydney, NSW, Australia / University of Sydney. Westmead Institute for Medical Research. Sydney, NSW, Australia / University of Sydney. Westmead Hospital. Sydney, NSW, Australia.
University of California, Davis. Davis, CA, USA.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mycotic Disease Branch. Atlanta, GA, USA.
Northern Arizona University. School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems. Flagstaff, AZ, USA
Translational Genomics Research Institute. Flagstaff, AZ, USA.
Translational Genomics Research Institute. Flagstaff, AZ, USA.
Washington State Department of Health. Shoreline, WA, USA.
Oregon Health Authority. Public Health Division. Salem, OR, USA.
Institut National de Santé Publique du Québec. Laboratoire de Santé Publique du Québec. Charlottetown, PE, Canada.
Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative. Charlottetown, PE, Canada / University of Prince Edward Island. Atlantic Veterinary College. Charlottetown, PE, Canada.
Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative. Charlottetown, PE, Canada / University of Prince Edward Island. Atlantic Veterinary College. Charlottetown, PE, Canada / Agriculture and Agrifood Canada. Ottawa Research and Development Centre. Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mycotic Disease Branch. Atlanta, GA, USA.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mycotic Disease Branch. Atlanta, GA, USA.
Westmead Institute. Center for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology. Molecular Mycology Research Laboratory. Sydney, NSW, Australia / University of Sydney. Marie Bashir Institute for Emerging Infections and Biosecurity. Sydney, NSW, Australia / University of Sydney. Westmead Clinical School. Sydney, NSW, Australia / University of Sydney. Sydney Medical School. Sydney, NSW, Australia / University of Sydney. Westmead Institute for Medical Research. Sydney, NSW, Australia / University of Sydney. Westmead Hospital. Sydney, NSW, Australia.
University of California, Davis. Davis, CA, USA.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mycotic Disease Branch. Atlanta, GA, USA.
Northern Arizona University. School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems. Flagstaff, AZ, USA
Translational Genomics Research Institute. Flagstaff, AZ, USA.
Abstract
The emergence of Cryptococcus gattii, previously regarded as a predominantly tropical pathogen, in the temperate climate of the North American Pacific Northwest (PNW) in 1999 prompted several questions. The most prevalent among these was the timing of the introduction of this pathogen to this novel environment. Here, we infer tip-dated timing estimates for the three clonal C. gattii populations observed in the PNW, VGIIa, VGIIb, and VGIIc, based on whole-genome sequencing of 134 C. gattii isolates and using Bayesian evolutionary analysis by sampling trees (BEAST). We estimated the nucleotide substitution rate for each lineage (1.59 × 10-8, 1.59 × 10-8, and 2.70 × 10-8, respectively) to be an order of magnitude higher than common neutral fungal mutation rates (2.0 × 10-9), indicating a microevolutionary rate (e.g., successive clonal generations in a laboratory) in comparison to a species' slower, macroevolutionary rate (e.g., when using fossil records). The clonal nature of the PNW C. gattii emergence over a narrow number of years would therefore possibly explain our higher mutation rates. Our results suggest that the mean time to most recent common ancestor for all three sublineages occurred within the last 60 to 100 years. While the cause of C. gattii dispersal to the PNW is still unclear, our research estimates that the arrival is neither ancient nor very recent (i.e., <25 years ago), making a strong case for an anthropogenic introduction. IMPORTANCE The recent emergence of the pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus gattii in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) resulted in numerous investigations into the epidemiological and enzootic impacts, as well as multiple genomic explorations of the three primary molecular subtypes of the fungus that were discovered. These studies lead to the general conclusion that the subtypes identified likely emerged out of Brazil. Here, we conducted genomic dating analyses to determine the ages of the various lineages seen in the PNW and propose hypothetical causes for the dispersal events. Bayesian evolutionary analysis strongly suggests that these independent fungal populations in the PNW are all 60 to 100 years old, providing a timing that is subsequent to the opening of the Panama Canal, which allowed for more direct shipping between Brazil and the western North American coastline, a possible driving event for these fungal translocation events.
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