Summary
M protein, a major surface protein and virulence factor for the group A streptococcus, exhibits extraordinary size variation in strains of the same serotype (Fischetti et al. 1985). RNA sequence analysis of spontaneous M protein size variants shows that deletion mutations arise in a single strain by homologous recombination events between intragenic tandem repeats. Similar deletion and duplication events also occur in serial streptococcal isolates from a single patient and among related strains in a recent outbreak. We discuss how homologous recombination events can lead to the generation of antigenic variation.
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Communicated by G.R. Smith
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Hollingshead, S.K., Fischetti, V.A. & Scott, J.R. Size variation in group A streptococcal M protein is generated by homologous recombination between intragenic repeats. Mol Gen Genet 207, 196–203 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00331578
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00331578