Genome sequence of a serotype M28 strain of group a streptococcus: potential new insights into puerperal sepsis and bacterial disease specificity. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • Puerperal sepsis, a major cause of death of young women in Europe in the 1800s, was due predominantly to the gram-positive pathogen group A Streptococcus. Studies conducted during past decades have shown that serotype M28 strains are the major group A Streptococcus organisms responsible for many of these infections. To begin to increase our understanding of their enrichment in puerperal sepsis, we sequenced the genome of a genetically representative strain. This strain has genes encoding a novel array of prophage virulence factors, cell-surface proteins, and other molecules likely to contribute to host-pathogen interactions. Importantly, genes for 7 inferred extracellular proteins are encoded by a 37.4-kb foreign DNA element that is shared with group B Streptococcus and is present in all serotype M28 strains. Proteins encoded by the 37.4-kb element were expressed extracellularly and in human infections. Acquisition of foreign genes has helped create a disease-specialist clone of this pathogen.

publication date

  • July 29, 2005

Research

keywords

  • Genome, Bacterial
  • Puerperal Infection
  • Streptococcal Infections
  • Streptococcus pyogenes

Identity

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 23944510259

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1086/430618

PubMed ID

  • 16088825

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 192

issue

  • 5