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Molecular characteristics of pharyngeal and invasive emm3 Streptococcus pyogenes strains from Norway, 1988–2003

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Abstract

A major virulence factor of group A streptococci (GAS) is the M protein. Strains with the M3 type are more often associated with necrotizing fasciitis (NF) and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome, and have a higher case fatality rate than strains of other M types. To better understand the epidemiology of M3 GAS strains in Norway, we analyzed 59 invasive and 69 pharyngeal isolates with respect to prophage content, allelic variation in emm3, mtsR encoding the metal transporter of Streptococcus repressor (mtsR), and sclB coding for streptococcal collagen-like protein B. The Norwegian emm3 strains were very homogeneous, mainly harboring the emm allele 3.1 and prophage profile ΦG3.01. Other prophage profiles were transient. The mutation in mtsR known to truncate the protein and result in decreased capacity to cause NF was not found in our isolates. The sclB gene usually harbored five or eight contiguous repeats of a CAAAA pentanucleotide sequence and a highly modular and variable collagen structural motif (CSM) region with 9 and 12 amino acid M3-specific conserved motif repeats distributed across the entire CSM region. Strains with 5 CAAAA repeats emerged in 1993 and these strains were associated with the increase in invasive M3 cases in the period 1993–2003.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Stephen B. Beres, Nicole M. Green, Izabela Sitkiewicz, Anne H. Tart, and Paul Sumby at The Methodist Hospital Research Institute for help and technical advice. We also thank Line Eikvil from the Norwegian Computing Center, for help with the principal component analysis. Funding was provided by the Norwegian Research Council grants 166001/v40 and 177397/v40 to D.A.C.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Infectious Disease Control, Department of Bacteriology and Immunology, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, P.O. Box 4404, Nydalen, 0403, Oslo, Norway

    R. Meisal, E. A. Høiby & D. A. Caugant

  2. Department of Oral Biology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    R. Meisal & D. A. Caugant

  3. Center for Molecular and Translational Human Infectious Disease Research and Department of Pathology, The Methodist Hospital Research Institute, Houston, TX, USA

    J. M. Musser

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  1. R. Meisal
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  2. E. A. Høiby
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  3. D. A. Caugant
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  4. J. M. Musser
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Correspondence to D. A. Caugant.

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Meisal, R., Høiby, E.A., Caugant, D.A. et al. Molecular characteristics of pharyngeal and invasive emm3 Streptococcus pyogenes strains from Norway, 1988–2003. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 29, 31–43 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-009-0814-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-009-0814-5

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