Asymptomatic carriage of group A streptococcus is associated with elimination of capsule production.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Flores AR
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4187823 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Asymptomatic carriage of group A streptococcus is associated with elimination of capsule production.
Flores Anthony R AR Jewell Brittany E BE Olsen Randall J RJ Shelburne Samuel A SA Fittipaldi Nahuel N Beres Stephen B SB Musser James M JM
Infection and immunity 20140714 9
Humans commonly carry pathogenic bacteria asymptomatically, but despite decades of study, the underlying molecular contributors remain poorly understood. Here, we show that a group A streptococcus carriage strain contains a frameshift mutation in the hasA gene resulting in loss of hyaluronic acid capsule biosynthesis. This mutation was repaired by allelic replacement, resulting in restoration of capsule production in the isogenic derivative strain. The "repaired" isogenic strain was significantl ...[more]
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