The genus Cryptococcus comprises of more than 30 species. It consists of clinically significant pathogenic Cryptococcus neoformans/Cryptococcus gattii species complex comprising of a minimum of seven species. These pathogens cost more than 200,000 lives annually by causing cryptococcal meningoencephalitis. The evolution of the pathogenic species from closely related non‐pathogenic species of the Cryptococcus amylolentus complex is of particular importance and several advances have been made to understand their phylogenetic and genomic relationships. The current review briefly describes the sexual reproduction process followed by an individual description of the members focusing on their key attributes and virulence mechanisms of the pathogenic species. A special section on phylogenetic studies is aimed at understanding the evolutionary divergence of pathogens from non‐pathogens. Recent findings from our group pertaining to parameters affecting codon usage bias in six pathogenic and three non‐pathogenic ancestral species and their corroboration with existing phylogenetic reports are also included in the current review.

中文翻译：

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隐球菌属的不同物种：病原体及其非致病性祖先

隐球菌属包括 30 多种。它由具有临床意义的致病性新型隐球菌/格蒂隐球菌复合体组成，该复合体至少包含七个物种。这些病原体通过引起隐球菌脑膜脑炎每年夺去超过 200,000 人的生命。淀粉样隐球菌复合体的致病物种从密切相关的非致病物种进化是特别重要的，并且已经取得了一些进展以了解它们的系统发育和基因组关系。目前的综述简要描述了有性生殖过程，然后对成员进行了个人描述，重点是他们的关键属性和致病物种的毒力机制。系统发育研究的一个特殊部分旨在了解病原体与非病原体的进化差异。我们小组关于影响六种致病性和三种非致病性祖先物种密码子使用偏倚的参数的最新发现及其与现有系统发育报告的证实也包括在当前的审查中。