{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,10]],"date-time":"2026-02-10T16:30:35Z","timestamp":1770741035188,"version":"3.49.0"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,11]]},"group-title":"Microbiology","reference-count":64,"publisher":"openRxiv","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,8]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>\n                  Histoplasmosis is an endemic mycosis that often presents as a respiratory infection in immunocompromised patients. Hundreds of thousands of new infections are reported annually around the world. The etiological agent of the disease,\n                  <jats:italic>Histoplasma,<\/jats:italic>\n                  is a dimorphic fungus commonly found in the soil where it grows as mycelia. Humans can become infected by\n                  <jats:italic>Histoplasma<\/jats:italic>\n                  through inhalation of its spores (conidia) or mycelial particles. The fungi transitions into the yeast phase in the lungs at 37\u00b0C. Once in the lungs, yeast cells reside and proliferate inside alveolar macrophages. We have previously described that\n                  <jats:italic>Histoplasma<\/jats:italic>\n                  is composed of at least five cryptic species that differ genetically, and assigned new names to the lineages. Here we evaluated multiple phenotypic characteristics of 12 strains from five phylogenetic species of\n                  <jats:italic>Histoplasma<\/jats:italic>\n                  to identify phenotypic traits that differentiate between these species:\n                  <jats:italic>H. capsulatum sensu stricto<\/jats:italic>\n                  ,\n                  <jats:italic>H. ohiense<\/jats:italic>\n                  ,\n                  <jats:italic>H. mississippiense<\/jats:italic>\n                  ,\n                  <jats:italic>H. suramericanum<\/jats:italic>\n                  , and an African lineage. We report diagnostic traits for two species. The other three species can be identified by a combination of traits. Our results suggest that 1) there are significant phenotypic differences among the cryptic species of\n                  <jats:italic>Histoplasma<\/jats:italic>\n                  , and 2) that those differences can be used to positively distinguish those species in a clinical setting and for further study of the evolution of this fungal pathogen.\n                <\/jats:p>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>IMPORTANCE<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    Identifying species boundaries is a critical component of evolutionary biology. Genome sequencing and the use of molecular markers have advanced our understanding of the evolutionary history of fungal pathogens, including\n                    <jats:italic>Histoplasma<\/jats:italic>\n                    , and have allowed for the identification of new species. This is especially important in organisms where morphological characteristics cannot be used for this purpose. In this study, we revise the taxonomic status of the four named species of the genus\n                    <jats:italic>Histoplasma<\/jats:italic>\n                    :\n                    <jats:italic>H. capsulatum sensu stricto<\/jats:italic>\n                    ,\n                    <jats:italic>H. ohiense<\/jats:italic>\n                    ,\n                    <jats:italic>H. mississippiense<\/jats:italic>\n                    , and\n                    <jats:italic>H. suramericanum<\/jats:italic>\n                    and propose the use of species-specific phenotypic traits to aid their identification when genome sequencing is not available. These results have implications not only for evolutionary study of\n                    <jats:italic>Histoplasma<\/jats:italic>\n                    , but also for clinicians, as the\n                    <jats:italic>Histoplasma<\/jats:italic>\n                    species could determine the outcome of disease and treatment needed.\n                  <\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1101\/2024.01.08.574719","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,11]],"date-time":"2024-01-11T09:40:12Z","timestamp":1704966012000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Phenotypic characterization of cryptic species in the fungal pathogen\n                  <i>Histoplasma<\/i>"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2085-9667","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Victoria E.","family":"Sep\u00falveda","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2419-3399","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jonathan A.","family":"Rader","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jingbaoyi (Janet)","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"William E.","family":"Goldman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7597-602X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Daniel R.","family":"Matute","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"54368","reference":[{"key":"2024011302100609000_2024.01.08.574719v1.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jpeds.2003.10.035"},{"key":"2024011302100609000_2024.01.08.574719v1.2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S1473-3099(18)30354-2"},{"key":"2024011302100609000_2024.01.08.574719v1.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1439-0507.1968.tb03370.x"},{"key":"2024011302100609000_2024.01.08.574719v1.4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/biomet\/60.2.255"},{"key":"2024011302100609000_2024.01.08.574719v1.5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/jof7100865"},{"key":"2024011302100609000_2024.01.08.574719v1.6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3201\/eid2403.171258"},{"key":"2024011302100609000_2024.01.08.574719v1.7","unstructured":"Baty F. , M.-L. 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