FIG 1.

The C. gattii acapsular Δcap60 strain efficiently activates BMDCs. (A) Capsule formation was assessed using the conventional India ink method. Parental strain PNG18, the Δcap60 strain, and the revertant (CAP60C) were grown in YPD medium at 30°C overnight. BMDCs were incubated with heat-killed C. gattii cells for 24 h, and the phagocytosis rate (B), costimulatory molecule expression (C), and cytokine production (D) were evaluated by fluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry, and ELISA, respectively. For flow cytometry analysis, gates were set for CD11c⁺ CD11b⁺ cells. Representative data (means ± SDs) from 2 or 3 independent experiments are shown. *, P < 0.05 versus PNG18 by unpaired t test; #, P < 0.05 versus PNG18 by Mann-Whitney U test.