Nonencapsulated Variant of Cryptococcus neoformans I. Virulence Studies and Characterization of Soluble Polysaccharide.

A weakly virulent nonencapsulated variant of Cryptococcus neoformans is described. The chemical structure and antigenicity of the soluble polysaccharides produced by the variant strain and a typical virulent strain were compared. The soluble polysaccharides produced by both strains were composed of the same constituent monosaccharides; however, the virulent strain produced a polysaccharide having a greater uronic acid content and a larger molecular size than that of the variant strain. Soluble polysaccharides from the two strains are not closely related immunologically. Soluble polysaccharide obtained from the virulent strain did not affect persistence of the variant strain in mice.