Studies from Imperial College London, Department of Infectious Disease reveal new findings on pneumococcal disease
2007 NOV 13 -- A report, 'Genetic relatedness of the Streptococcus pneumoniae capsular biosynthetic loci,' is newly published data in Journal of Bacteriology. According to a study from London, the United Kingdom, "Streptococcus pneumoniae (the pneumococcus) produces 1 of 91 capsular polysaccharides (CPS) that define the serotype. The cps loci of 88 pneumococcal serotypes whose CPS is synthesized by the Wzy-dependent pathway were compared with each other and with additional streptococcal polysaccharide biosynthetic loci and were clustered according to the proportion of shared homology groups (HGs), weighted for the sequence similarities between the genes encoding the shared HGs." "The cps loci of the 88 pneumococcal serotypes were distributed into eight major clusters and 21 subclusters. All serotypes within the same serogroup fell into the same major cluster, but in six cases, serotypes within the same serogroup were in different subclusters and, conversely, nine subclusters included completely different serotypes. The closely related cps loci within a subcluster were compared to the known CPS structures to relate gene content to structure," wrote A. Mavroidi and colleagues, Imperial College London, Department of Infectious Disease. The researchers concluded: "The Streptococcus oralis and Streptococcus mitis polysaccharide biosynthetic loci clustered within the pneumococcal cps loci and were in a subcluster that also included the cps locus of pneumococcal serotype 21, whereas the Streptococcus agalactiae cps loci formed a single cluster that was not closely related to any of the pneumococcal cps clusters." Mavroidi and colleagues published the results of their research in the Journal of Bacteriology (Genetic relatedness of the Streptococcus pneumoniae capsular biosynthetic loci. Journal of Bacteriology, 2007;189(21):7841-55). For additional information, contact A. Mavroidi, Imperial College London, Dept. of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Room G22, Old Medical School Building, St. Mary's Hospital, Norfolk Place, London W2 1PG, UK. The publisher of the Journal of Bacteriology can be contacted at: American Society Microbiology, 1752 N St. NW, Washington, DC 20036-2904, USA. Keywords: United Kingdom, London, Pneumococcal Disease, Bacteriology, Pneumococcal, Strep Infection, Streptococcal, Streptococcus. This article was prepared by Life Science Weekly editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2007, Life Science Weekly via NewsRx.com.
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