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 Ashbaugh, C. D.
Right arrow Articles by Wessels, M. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Ashbaugh, C. D.
Right arrow Articles by Wessels, M. R.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, September 1998, p. 4955-4959, Vol. 180, No. 18
0021-9193/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Molecular Analysis of the Capsule Gene Region of Group A Streptococcus: the hasAB Genes Are Sufficient for Capsule Expression

Cameron D. Ashbaugh,1,2,* Sebastián Albertí,1,dagger and Michael R. Wessels1,2

Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital,1 and Division of Infectious Diseases, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School,2 Boston, Massachusetts 02115

Received 1 April 1998/Accepted 11 July 1998

Enzymes directing the biosynthesis of the group A streptococcal hyaluronic acid capsule are encoded in the hasABC gene cluster. Inactivation of hasC, encoding UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase in the heavily encapsulated group A streptococcal strain 87-282, had no effect on capsule production, indicating that hasC is not required for hyaluronic acid synthesis and that an alternative source of UDP-glucose is available for capsule production. Nucleotide sequence and deletion mutation analysis of the 5.5 kb of DNA upstream of hasA revealed that this region is not required for capsule expression. Many (10 of 23) group A streptococcal strains were found to contain insertion element IS1239' approximately 50 nucleotides upstream of the -35 site of the hasA promoter. The presence of IS1239' upstream of hasA did not prevent capsule expression. These results elucidate the molecular architecture of the group A streptococcal chromosomal region upstream of the has operon, indicate that hasABC are the sole components of the capsule gene cluster, and demonstrate that hasAB are sufficient to direct capsule synthesis in group A streptococci.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Channing Laboratory, 181 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA 02115. Phone: (617) 525-2242. Fax: (617) 731-1541. E-mail: cashbaugh{at}channing.harvard.edu.

dagger Present address: Department of Microbiology, University of the Balaeric Islands, Palma de Mallorca, Spain.

Journal of Bacteriology, September 1998, p. 4955-4959, Vol. 180, No. 18
0021-9193/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Nobbs, A. H., Lamont, R. J., Jenkinson, H. F. (2009). Streptococcus Adherence and Colonization. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 73: 407-450 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hakansson, A., Bentley, C. C., Shakhnovic, E. A., Wessels, M. R. (2005). Cytolysin-dependent evasion of lysosomal killing. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102: 5192-5197 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ouskova, G., Spellerberg, B., Prehm, P. (2004). Hyaluronan release from Streptococcus pyogenes: export by an ABC transporter. Glycobiology 14: 931-938 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Smoot, J. C., Barbian, K. D., Van Gompel, J. J., Smoot, L. M., Chaussee, M. S., Sylva, G. L., Sturdevant, D. E., Ricklefs, S. M., Porcella, S. F., Parkins, L. D., Beres, S. B., Campbell, D. S., Smith, T. M., Zhang, Q., Kapur, V., Daly, J. A., Veasy, L. G., Musser, J. M. (2002). Genome sequence and comparative microarray analysis of serotype M18 group A Streptococcus strains associated with acute rheumatic fever outbreaks. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 10.1073/pnas.062526099v1 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ashbaugh, C. D., Wessels, M. R. (2001). Absence of a Cysteine Protease Effect on Bacterial Virulence in Two Murine Models of Human Invasive Group A Streptococcal Infection. Infect. Immun. 69: 6683-6688 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Kazmi, S. U., Kansal, R., Aziz, R. K., Hooshdaran, M., Norrby-Teglund, A., Low, D. E., Halim, A.-B., Kotb, M. (2001). Reciprocal, Temporal Expression of SpeA and SpeB by Invasive M1T1 Group A Streptococcal Isolates In Vivo. Infect. Immun. 69: 4988-4995 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ward, P. N., Field, T. R., Ditcham, W. G. F., Maguin, E., Leigh, J. A. (2001). Identification and Disruption of Two Discrete Loci Encoding Hyaluronic Acid Capsule Biosynthesis Genes hasA, hasB, and hasC in Streptococcus uberis. Infect. Immun. 69: 392-399 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Cunningham, M. W. (2000). Pathogenesis of Group A Streptococcal Infections. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 13: 470-511 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Li, Z., Sledjeski, D. D., Kreikemeyer, B., Podbielski, A., Boyle, M. D. P. (1999). Identification of pel, a Streptococcus pyogenes Locus That Affects both Surface and Secreted Proteins. J. Bacteriol. 181: 6019-6027 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Smoot, J. C., Barbian, K. D., Van Gompel, J. J., Smoot, L. M., Chaussee, M. S., Sylva, G. L., Sturdevant, D. E., Ricklefs, S. M., Porcella, S. F., Parkins, L. D., Beres, S. B., Campbell, D. S., Smith, T. M., Zhang, Q., Kapur, V., Daly, J. A., Veasy, L. G., Musser, J. M. (2002). Genome sequence and comparative microarray analysis of serotype M18 group A Streptococcus strains associated with acute rheumatic fever outbreaks. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99: 4668-4673 [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»