Cryptococcus neoformans is the causative agent for cryptococcal meningitis. This disease is the most common fungal infection of the central nervous system (CNS) and the third most frequent neurological complication in AIDS patients. Cryptococcal meningitis claims hundreds of thousands of lives annually and is responsible for ~19% of deaths in…

Prokaryotes are the dominant form of life on earth, representing an enormous biomass and number of individual cells. They are so diverse that it is misleading to give them a common name. In one way, they are really just what are left after the familiar plants, animals, fungi and protists are named. Nevertheless, they are the engines that make…