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Infection and Immunity, July 2007, p. 3673-3679, Vol. 75, No. 7
0019-9567/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.01695-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Dynamics in Prophage Content of Invasive and Noninvasive M1 and M28 Streptococcus pyogenes Isolates in The Netherlands from 1959 to 1996{triangledown}

Bart J. M. Vlaminckx,1* Frank H. J. Schuren,2 Roy C. Montijn,2 Martien P. M. Caspers,2 M. M. Beitsma,1 Wim J. B. Wannet,3 Leo M. Schouls,3 Jan Verhoef,1 and Wouter T. M. Jansen1

University Medical Center Utrecht, Heidelberglaan 100, 3584 CX Utrecht, The Netherlands,1 TNO Quality of Life, Business Unit Microbiology, Utrechtseweg 48, 3704HE Zeist, The Netherlands,2 National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Antonie van Leeuwenhoeklaan 9, 3721 MA Bilthoven, The Netherlands3

Received 24 October 2006/ Returned for modification 29 November 2006/ Accepted 28 March 2007

Invasive group A streptococcal (GAS) disease reemerged in The Netherlands in the late 1980s. To seek an explanation for this resurgence, the genetic compositions of 22 M1 and 19 M28 GAS strains isolated in The Netherlands between 1960s and the mid-1990s were analyzed by using a mixed-genome DNA microarray. During this four-decade period, M1 and especially M28 strains acquired prophages on at least eight occasions. All prophages carried a superantigen (speA2, speC, speK) or a streptodornase (sdaD2, sdn), both associated with invasive GAS disease. Invasive and noninvasive GAS strains did not differ in prophage acquisition, suggesting that there was an overall increase in the pathogenicity of M1 and M28 strains over the last four decades rather than emergence of hypervirulent subclones. The increased overall pathogenic potential may have contributed to the reemergence of invasive GAS disease in The Netherlands.

* Corresponding author. Present address: Medical Microbiology and Immunology, St. Antonius Hospital, Koekoekslaan 1, Postbus 2500, 3430 EM Nieuwegein, The Netherlands. Phone: 31 30 6099111, ext. 867. Fax: 31 30 6092924. E-mail: B.Vlaminckx{at}antonius.net

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 23 April 2007.

Editor: A. Camilli

Infection and Immunity, July 2007, p. 3673-3679, Vol. 75, No. 7
0019-9567/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.01695-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Soderberg, J. J., Engstrom, P., von Pawel-Rammingen, U. (2008). The Intrinsic Immunoglobulin G Endopeptidase Activity of Streptococcal Mac-2 Proteins Implies a Unique Role for the Enzymatically Impaired Mac-2 Protein of M28 Serotype Strains. Infect. Immun. 76: 2183-2188 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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