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Infection and Immunity, December 2000, p. 6542-6553, Vol. 68, No. 12
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Identification and Characterization of the
scl Gene Encoding a Group A Streptococcus
Extracellular Protein Virulence Factor with Similarity to
Human Collagen
Slawomir
Lukomski,1
Kazumitsu
Nakashima,1,
Iman
Abdi,1
Vincent J.
Cipriano,1
Robin M.
Ireland,2
Sean D.
Reid,2
Gerald G.
Adams,1 and
James M.
Musser1,2,*
Department of Pathology, Baylor College of
Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030,1 and
Laboratory of Human Bacterial Pathogenesis, Rocky Mountain
Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana
598402
Received 19 April 2000/Returned for modification 31 May
2000/Accepted 6 September 2000
Group A Streptococcus (GAS) expresses cell surface
proteins that mediate important biological functions such as resistance to phagocytosis, adherence to plasma and extracellular matrix proteins,
and degradation of host proteins. An open reading frame encoding a
protein of 348 amino acid residues was identified by analysis of the
genome sequence available for a serotype M1 strain. The protein has an
LPATGE sequence located near the carboxy terminus that matches the
consensus sequence (LPXTGX) present in many gram-positive cell
wall-anchored molecules. Importantly, the central region of this
protein contains 50 contiguous Gly-X-X triplet amino acid motifs
characteristic of the structure of human collagen. The structural gene
(designated scl for streptococcal collagen-like) was
present in all 50 GAS isolates tested, which together express 21 different M protein types and represent the breadth of genomic diversity in the species. DNA sequence analysis of the gene in these 50 isolates found that the number of contiguous Gly-X-X motifs ranged from
14 in serotype M6 isolates to 62 in a serotype M41 organism. M1 and M18
organisms had the identical allele, which indicates very recent
horizontal gene transfer. The gene was transcribed abundantly in the
logarithmic but not stationary phase of growth, a result consistent
with the occurrence of a DNA sequence with substantial homology with a
consensus Mga binding site immediately upstream of the scl
open reading frame. Two isogenic mutant M1 strains created by nonpolar
mutagenesis of the scl structural gene were not attenuated
for mouse virulence as assessed by intraperitoneal inoculation. In
contrast, the isogenic mutant derivative made from the M1 strain
representative of the subclone most frequently causing human infections
was significantly less virulent when inoculated subcutaneously into
mice. In addition, both isogenic mutant strains had significantly
reduced adherence to human A549 epithelial cells grown in culture.
These studies identify a new extracellular GAS virulence factor that is
widely distributed in the species and participates in adherence to host
cells and soft tissue pathology.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratory of
Human Bacterial Pathogenesis, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of
Health, 903 South 4th St., Hamilton, MT 59840. Phone: (406) 363-9315. Fax: (406) 363-9427. E-mail: jmusser{at}niaid.nih.gov.

Present address: Department of Respiratory Diseases, Chubu National
Hospital, Aichi 474-8511,
Japan.
Infection and Immunity, December 2000, p. 6542-6553, Vol. 68, No. 12
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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