Cryptococcus

Cryptococcus (from Ancient Greek κρυπτός (kruptós), meaning "hidden", and κόκκος (kókkos), meaning "grain") is a genus of fungi in the family Cryptococcaceae that includes both yeasts and filamentous species. The filamentous, sexual forms or teleomorphs were formerly classified in the genus Filobasidiella, while Cryptococcus was reserved for the yeasts. Most yeast species formerly referred to Cryptococcus have now been placed in different genera. Some Cryptococcus species cause a disease called cryptococcosis.

==Taxonomy== The genus was described by French mycologist Jean Paul Vuillemin in 1901, when he failed to find ascospores characteristic of the genus Saccharomyces in the yeast previously known as Saccharomyces neoformans. Over 300 additional names were subsequently added to the genus, almost all of which were later removed following molecular research based on cladistic analysis of DNA sequences. As a result, some 10 species are recognized in Cryptococcus.