Genetic relatedness and diversity of Cryptococcus neoformans strains in the Maltese Islands

Abstract

The genetic relatedness of clinical and environmental Cryptococcus neoformans strains in the Maltese Islands was investigated by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA fingerprinting with four primers. The clinical strains isolated over the course of I year from AIDS patients showed identical fingerprints. The electrophoretic patterns of the two clinical strains were also the most common patterns among the environmental strains, but the patterns among the environmental strains showed a wide variability and no correlation with the site of isolation.