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Cryptococcus gattii

9.8

A fungus that can cause infections in humans and animals

noun
/ˌkrɪptoʊˈkɒkəs ˈɡætiːaɪ/

Specialized

: Cryptococcus gattii

The doctor identified Cryptococcus gattii as the cause of the patient's lung infection.

Examples

Laboratory tests confirmed the presence of Cryptococcus gattii in the animal's tissue sample.
Infections caused by Cryptococcus gattii are becoming more common.
Researchers study Cryptococcus gattii to understand how it spreads in the environment.
Have you heard of Cryptococcus gattii?
The doctor identified Cryptococcus gattii as the cause of the patient's lung infection.
Infections caused by Cryptococcus gattii can lead to serious health complications.
Laboratory tests confirmed the presence of Cryptococcus gattii in the animal's tissue sample.

Surface Forms

Cryptococcus gattii singular

Cryptococcus gattii plural

Morphology

Cryptococcus + gattii

This is a scientific binomial: the genus name 'Cryptococcus' (a fungal genus) combined with the specific epithet 'gattii' denotes a particular species. Although 'gattii' is a proper-name label rather than a common-word with independent meaning, the taxonomic composition directly signals 'a species of Cryptococcus', a transparent, cross-linguistically regular naming pattern.

Etymology

Cryptococcus gattii comes from Greek and a scientist's name: crypto means 'hidden' and coccus means 'round', and gattii honors a researcher named Gatti. So the name gives a simple picture: a small, round fungus that is hard to see and can 'cause infection' in people and animals.