Hagen, F., CBS-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre, Basidiomycete and Yeast Research, Utrecht, Netherlands, Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Canisius-Wilhelmina Hospital, Nijmegen, Netherlands
Khayhan, K., CBS-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre, Basidiomycete and Yeast Research, Utrecht, Netherlands, Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Phayao, Phayao, Thailand
Theelen, B., CBS-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre, Basidiomycete and Yeast Research, Utrecht, Netherlands
Kolecka, A., CBS-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre, Basidiomycete and Yeast Research, Utrecht, Netherlands
Polacheck, I., Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, Israel
Sionov, E., Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, Israel, Department of Food Quality and Safety, Institute for Postharvest and Food Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel
Falk, R., Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, Israel, Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nir-David, Israel
Parnmen, S., Department of Medical Sciences, Ministry of Public Health, Nonthaburi, Thailand
Lumbsch, H.T., Science and Education, The Field Museum, Chicago, IL, United States
Boekhout, T., CBS-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre, Basidiomycete and Yeast Research, Utrecht, Netherlands, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Medical Mycology, Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

Phylogenetic analysis of 11 genetic loci and results from many genotyping studies revealed significant genetic diversity with the pathogenic Cryptococcus gattii/. Cryptococcus neoformans species complex. Genealogical concordance, coalescence-based, and species tree approaches supported the presence of distinct and concordant lineages within the complex. Consequently, we propose to recognize the current C. neoformans var. grubii and C. neoformans var. neoformans as separate species, and five species within C. gattii. The type strain of C. neoformans CBS132 represents a serotype AD hybrid and is replaced. The newly delimited species differ in aspects of pathogenicity, prevalence for patient groups, as well as biochemical and physiological aspects, such as susceptibility to antifungals. MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry readily distinguishes the newly recognized species. © 2015 The Authors.