This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Gase, K.
Right arrow Articles by McShan, W. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Gase, K.
Right arrow Articles by McShan, W. M.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infection and Immunity, September 1999, p. 4725-4731, Vol. 67, No. 9
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Identification, Cloning, and Expression of the CAMP factor gene (cfa) of Group A Streptococci

Klaus Gase,1,2 Joseph J. Ferretti,1 Charles Primeaux,1 and W. Michael McShan1,*

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73190,1 and Institute for Molecular Biology, Jena University, D-07745 Jena, Germany2

Received 23 February 1999/Returned for modification 12 May 1999/Accepted 17 June 1999

The CAMP reaction is a synergistic lysis of erythrocytes by the interaction of an extracellular protein (CAMP factor) produced by some streptococcal species with the Staphylococcus aureus sphingomyelinase C (beta-toxin). Group A streptococci (GAS [Streptococcus pyogenes]) have been long considered CAMP negative, and this reaction commonly has been used to distinguish GAS from Streptococcus agalactiae. We here provide evidence that GAS possess this gene and produce an extracellular CAMP factor capable of participating in a positive CAMP reaction. The S. pyogenes CAMP factor is specified by a 774-bp open reading frame homologous to the CAMP factor genes from S. agalactiae and Streptococcus uberis. This gene, designated cfa, was isolated on a 1,256-bp fragment and cloned in Escherichia coli. Recombinant clones of E. coli expressing cfa secreted an active CAMP factor. The deduced 28.5-kDa protein encoded by cfa consists of 257 amino acids, with a predicted 28-amino-acid signal peptide. The cfa gene is widely spread among GAS: 82 of 100 clinical GAS isolates produced a positive CAMP reaction. Of the CAMP-negative strains, 17 of the 18 GAS strains contained the cfa gene. Additionally, CAMP activity was detected in streptococci from serogroups C, M, P, R, and U. The cfa gene was cloned and actively expressed in Escherichia coli and gene fusions were made, placing the beta -galactosidase gene (lacZ) under control of the cfa promoter. These cfa promoter-lacZ fusions were introduced into S. pyogenes via a bacteriophage-derived site-specific integration vector where they showed that the cfa gene has a strong promoter that may be subject to as-yet-unidentified regulatory factors. The results presented here, along with previous reports, indicate that the CAMP factor gene is fairly widespread among streptococci, being present at least in groups A, B, C, G, M, P, R, and U.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: BMSB 1053, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, 940 S. L. Young Blvd., Oklahoma City, OK 73013. Phone: (405) 271-1202. Fax: (405) 271-3117. E-mail: William-McShan{at}ouhsc.edu.

Infection and Immunity, September 1999, p. 4725-4731, Vol. 67, No. 9
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Kunin, V., Copeland, A., Lapidus, A., Mavromatis, K., Hugenholtz, P. (2008). A Bioinformatician's Guide to Metagenomics. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 72: 557-578 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • McShan, W. M., Ferretti, J. J., Karasawa, T., Suvorov, A. N., Lin, S., Qin, B., Jia, H., Kenton, S., Najar, F., Wu, H., Scott, J., Roe, B. A., Savic, D. J. (2008). Genome Sequence of a Nephritogenic and Highly Transformable M49 Strain of Streptococcus pyogenes. J. Bacteriol. 190: 7773-7785 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ventura, M., Canchaya, C., Tauch, A., Chandra, G., Fitzgerald, G. F., Chater, K. F., van Sinderen, D. (2007). Genomics of Actinobacteria: Tracing the Evolutionary History of an Ancient Phylum. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 71: 495-548 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Luczak-Kadlubowska, A., Krzyszton-Russjan, J., Hryniewicz, W. (2006). Characteristics of Staphylococcus aureus Strains Isolated in Poland in 1996 to 2004 That Were Deficient in Species-Specific Proteins. J. Clin. Microbiol. 44: 4018-4024 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Rigoulay, C., Entenza, J. M., Halpern, D., Widmer, E., Moreillon, P., Poquet, I., Gruss, A. (2005). Comparative Analysis of the Roles of HtrA-Like Surface Proteases in Two Virulent Staphylococcus aureus Strains. Infect. Immun. 73: 563-572 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Lang, S., Palmer, M. (2003). Characterization of Streptococcus agalactiae CAMP Factor as a Pore-forming Toxin. J. Biol. Chem. 278: 38167-38173 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hansen, S. M., Sorensen, U. B. S. (2003). Method for Quantitative Detection and Presumptive Identification of Group B Streptococci on Primary Plating. J. Clin. Microbiol. 41: 1399-1403 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Savic, D. J., Ferretti, J. J. (2003). Novel Genomic Rearrangement That Affects Expression of the Streptococcus pyogenes Streptolysin O (slo) Gene. J. Bacteriol. 185: 1857-1869 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Savic, D. J., McShan, W. M., Ferretti, J. J. (2002). Autonomous Expression of the slo Gene of the Bicistronic nga-slo Operon of Streptococcus pyogenes. Infect. Immun. 70: 2730-2733 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ferretti, J. J., McShan, W. M., Ajdic, D., Savic, D. J., Savic, G., Lyon, K., Primeaux, C., Sezate, S., Suvorov, A. N., Kenton, S., Lai, H. S., Lin, S. P., Qian, Y., Jia, H. G., Najar, F. Z., Ren, Q., Zhu, H., Song, L., White, J., Yuan, X., Clifton, S. W., Roe, B. A., McLaughlin, R. (2001). Complete genome sequence of an M1 strain of Streptococcus pyogenes. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98: 4658-4663 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Cunningham, M. W. (2000). Pathogenesis of Group A Streptococcal Infections. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 13: 470-511 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»