Filamentation and endogenous sporulation inCryptococcus neoformans

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Abstract
Sodium deoxycholate, a component of the antifungal antibiotic preparation Fungizone (amphotericin B, Squibb), is itself inhibitory in relatively low concentrations (0·25%) for most strains of Cryptococcus neoformans. Surviving cells exposed to these concentrations often give rise to morphologic variants consisting of minutely-encapsulated, oval and elongate cells with a tendency toward filamentation. Certain strains of C. neoformans of capsule type C, including some of the above variants and their parent cultures, developed, in infected mouse tissues, very large, spherical, thick-walled, heavily-encapsulated cells, some of which, upon transfer to agar media, produced as many as 8 internal spores. These often appeared to arise through free-cell formation, leaving an epiplasmic residue in many cases, but failed to take ordinary ascospore stains. There was some evidence of conjugation preceding sporulation. Filamentous variants retained pathogenicity for mice and often appeared in tissue in the altered form.