This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Mavroidi, A. Articles by Spratt, B. G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Mavroidi, A. Articles by Spratt, B. G.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, December 2004, p. 8181-8192, Vol. 186, No. 24
0021-9193/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.186.24.8181-8192.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Evolutionary Genetics of the Capsular Locus of Serogroup 6 Pneumococci

Angeliki Mavroidi,¹ Daniel Godoy,¹ David M. Aanensen,¹ D. Ashley Robinson,^2, Susan K. Hollingshead,³ and Brian G. Spratt^1*

Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London, St. Mary's Campus, London,¹ Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom,² Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama³

Received 18 July 2004/ Accepted 6 September 2004

The evolution of the capsular biosynthetic (cps) locus of serogroup 6 Streptococcus pneumoniae was investigated by analyzing sequence variation within three serotype-specific cps genes from 102 serotype 6A and 6B isolates. Sequence variation within these cps genes was related to the genetic relatedness of the isolates, determined by multilocus sequence typing, and to the inferred patterns of recent evolutionary descent, explored using the eBURST algorithm. The serotype-specific cps genes had a low percent G+C, and there was a low level of sequence diversity in this region among serotype 6A and 6B isolates. There was also little sequence divergence between these serotypes, suggesting a single introduction of an ancestral cps sequence, followed by slight divergence to create serotypes 6A and 6B. A minority of serotype 6B isolates had cps sequences (class 2 sequences) that were 5% divergent from those of other serotype 6B isolates (class 1 sequences) and which may have arisen by a second, more recent introduction from a related but distinct source. Expression of a serotype 6A or 6B capsule correlated perfectly with a single nonsynonymous polymorphism within wciP, the rhamnosyl transferase gene. In addition to ample evidence of the horizontal transfer of the serotype 6A and 6B cps locus into unrelated lineages, there was evidence for relatively frequent changes from serotype 6A to 6B, and vice versa, among very closely related isolates and examples of recent recombinational events between class 1 and 2 cps serogroup 6 sequences.

Present address: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY 10595.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Foster, D., Knox, K., Walker, A. S., Griffiths, D. T., Moore, H., Haworth, E., Peto, T., Brueggemann, A. B., Crook, D. W., on behalf of the Oxford Invasive Pneumococcal Surv, (2008). Invasive pneumococcal disease: epidemiology in children and adults prior to implementation of the conjugate vaccine in the Oxfordshire region, England. J Med Microbiol 57: 480-487 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Hiller, N. L., Janto, B., Hogg, J. S., Boissy, R., Yu, S., Powell, E., Keefe, R., Ehrlich, N. E., Shen, K., Hayes, J., Barbadora, K., Klimke, W., Dernovoy, D., Tatusova, T., Parkhill, J., Bentley, S. D., Post, J. C., Ehrlich, G. D., Hu, F. Z. (2007). Comparative Genomic Analyses of Seventeen Streptococcus pneumoniae Strains: Insights into the Pneumococcal Supragenome. J. Bacteriol. 189: 8186-8195 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Mavroidi, A., Aanensen, D. M., Godoy, D., Skovsted, I. C., Kaltoft, M. S., Reeves, P. R., Bentley, S. D., Spratt, B. G. (2007). Genetic Relatedness of the Streptococcus pneumoniae Capsular Biosynthetic Loci. J. Bacteriol. 189: 7841-7855 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Aanensen, D. M., Mavroidi, A., Bentley, S. D., Reeves, P. R., Spratt, B. G. (2007). Predicted Functions and Linkage Specificities of the Products of the Streptococcus pneumoniae Capsular Biosynthetic Loci. J. Bacteriol. 189: 7856-7876 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Park, I. H., Park, S., Hollingshead, S. K., Nahm, M. H. (2007). Genetic Basis for the New Pneumococcal Serotype, 6C. Infect. Immun. 75: 4482-4489 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Park, I. H., Pritchard, D. G., Cartee, R., Brandao, A., Brandileone, M. C. C., Nahm, M. H. (2007). Discovery of a New Capsular Serotype (6C) within Serogroup 6 of Streptococcus pneumoniae. J. Clin. Microbiol. 45: 1225-1233 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Lin, J., Kaltoft, M. S., Brandao, A. P., Echaniz-Aviles, G., Brandileone, M. C. C., Hollingshead, S. K., Benjamin, W. H., Nahm, M. H. (2006). Validation of a Multiplex Pneumococcal Serotyping Assay with Clinical Samples. J. Clin. Microbiol. 44: 383-388 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Shen, K., Gladitz, J., Antalis, P., Dice, B., Janto, B., Keefe, R., Hayes, J., Ahmed, A., Dopico, R., Ehrlich, N., Jocz, J., Kropp, L., Yu, S., Nistico, L., Greenberg, D. P., Barbadora, K., Preston, R. A., Post, J. C., Ehrlich, G. D., Hu, F. Z. (2006). Characterization, Distribution, and Expression of Novel Genes among Eight Clinical Isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Infect. Immun. 74: 321-330 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Aduse-Opoku, J., Slaney, J. M., Hashim, A., Gallagher, A., Gallagher, R. P., Rangarajan, M., Boutaga, K., Laine, M. L., Van Winkelhoff, A. J., Curtis, M. A. (2006). Identification and Characterization of the Capsular Polysaccharide (K-Antigen) Locus of Porphyromonas gingivalis. Infect. Immun. 74: 449-460 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Pai, R., Gertz, R. E., Beall, B. (2006). Sequential Multiplex PCR Approach for Determining Capsular Serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae Isolates. J. Clin. Microbiol. 44: 124-131 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Pai, R., Limor, J., Beall, B. (2005). Use of Pyrosequencing To Differentiate Streptococcus pneumoniae Serotypes 6A and 6B. J. Clin. Microbiol. 43: 4820-4822 [Abstract] [Full Text]