Infection and Immunity, November 1998, p. 5592-5597, Vol. 66, No. 11
Department of Microbiology, University of
Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Received 24 April 1998/Returned for modification 2 July
1998/Accepted 10 August 1998
The M1inv+ subclone of M1 group A streptococci that spread globally
in the late 1980s and early 1990s was previously identified by
restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), M protein, and SpeA
exotoxin sequence analyses. Strains representing this subclone were
characterized with regard to carriage of bacteriophage and capacity to
invade cultured human epithelial cells. The M1inv+ subclone was found
to harbor two entirely different prophages, phage T13 and phage T14,
which together supplement its genome with nearly 70 kb of DNA. Phage
T14 encodes the SpeA exotoxin and is closely related to the classic
converting phage T12. Plaque-forming characteristics and RFLP analyses
of phages T13 and T14 were compared to each other and to phage T12.
Other subclones of M1, isolated in the 1970s to the early 1980s, lacked
both prophages. The M1inv+ subclone was previously reported to be
efficiently internalized by human epithelial cells. This potential was
confirmed and expanded by comparing a variety of clinical isolates. The
capacity for high-frequency invasion of epithelial cells was not
transmitted to a laboratory strain of group A streptococci by the
above-mentioned bacteriophages.
0019-9567/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
A Globally Disseminated M1 Subclone of Group A
Streptococci Differs from Other Subclones by 70 Kilobases of
Prophage DNA and Capacity for High-Frequency Intracellular
Invasion
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Box 196 UMHC,
Department of Microbiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455. Phone: (612) 624-6190. Fax: (612) 626-0623. E-mail:
cleary{at}lenti.med.umn.edu.
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