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Identification of isp, a locus encoding an immunogenic secreted protein conserved among group A streptococci.

ABSTRACT: The protein Mga (mga), which is required for transcription of several virulence genes of group A streptococci (GAS), including the antiphagocytic M protein, was suggested to act as the response regulator element of a bacterial two-component pathway. To investigate whether a gene encoding a cognate sensor protein is located upstream of mga, 3.1 kb of DNA 5' of the mga translational start site was cloned from serotype M6 GAS strain JRS4. Sequence analysis of this region revealed two adjacent open reading frames, a previously described orf and a new locus, isp (immunogenic secreted protein), which could encode proteins of 9 and 59 kDa, respectively. Inactivation of either open reading frame had no significant effect on transcription of the gene encoding M protein (emm) under normal growth conditions, suggesting that neither isp nor orf is involved in the Mga regulatory circuit. A protein migrating at an apparent molecular weight of 65,000 was produced when isp was transcribed and translated in vitro. The predicted isp product (Isp) contains an amino-terminal signal sequence region homologous to that found in bacterial secreted proteins, and expression of isp in Escherichia coli resulted in the presence of Isp in the periplasmic fraction. Convalescent-phase serum from a patient with an active GAS infection recognized forms of Isp both from the periplasm of E. coli and the supernatant of a GAS strain. Both isp and orf are highly conserved among strains of GAS, as shown by hybridization analyses.

SUBMITTER: McIver KS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC174109 | biostudies-other | 1996 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Identification of isp, a locus encoding an immunogenic secreted protein conserved among group A streptococci.

McIver K S KS Subbarao S S Kellner E M EM Heath A S AS Scott J R JR

Infection and immunity 19960701 7

The protein Mga (mga), which is required for transcription of several virulence genes of group A streptococci (GAS), including the antiphagocytic M protein, was suggested to act as the response regulator element of a bacterial two-component pathway. To investigate whether a gene encoding a cognate sensor protein is located upstream of mga, 3.1 kb of DNA 5' of the mga translational start site was cloned from serotype M6 GAS strain JRS4. Sequence analysis of this region revealed two adjacent open ...[more]

PMID: 8698478

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Project description:The choline-binding protein LytB, an N-acetylglucosaminidase of Streptococcus pneumoniae, is the key enzyme for daughter cell separation and is believed to play a critical pathogenic role, facilitating bacterial spreading during infection. Because of these peculiarities LytB is a putative vaccine target. To determine the extent of LytB polymorphism, the lytB alleles from seven typical, clinical pneumococcal isolates of various serotypes and from 13 additional streptococci of the mitis group (12 atypical pneumococci and the Streptococcus mitis type strain) were sequenced. Sequence alignment showed that the main differences among alleles were differences in the number of repeats (range, 12 to 18) characteristic of choline-binding proteins. These differences were located in the region corresponding to repeats 11 to 17. Typical pneumococcal strains contained either 14, 16, or 18 repeats, whereas all of the atypical isolates except strains 1283 and 782 (which had 14 and 16 repeats, respectively) and the S. mitis type strain had only 12 repeats; atypical isolate 10546 turned out to be a DeltalytB mutant. We also found that there are two major types of alternating repeats in lytB, which encode 21 and 23 amino acids. Choline-binding proteins are linked to the choline-containing cell wall substrate through choline residues at the interface of two consecutive choline-binding repeats that create a choline-binding site. The observation that all strains contained an even number of repeats suggests that the duplication events that gave rise to the choline-binding repeats of LytB involved two repeats simultaneously, an observation that is in keeping with previous crystallographic data. Typical pneumococcal isolates usually grew as diplococci, indicating that an active LytB enzyme was present. In contrast, most atypical isolates formed long chains of cells that did not disperse after addition of purified LytB, suggesting that in these strains chains were produced through mechanisms unrelated to LytB.

Project description:Although prokaryotic DNA methylation investigations have long focused on immunity against exogenous DNA, it has been recently recognized that DNA methylation impacts gene expression and phase variation in Streptococcus pneumoniae and Streptococcus suis. A comprehensive analysis of DNA methylation is lacking for beta-hemolytic streptococci, and thus we sought to examine DNA methylation in the major human pathogen group A Streptococcus (GAS). Using a database of 224 GAS genomes encompassing 80 emm types, we found that nearly all GAS strains encode a type I restriction modification (RM) system that lacks the hsdS' alleles responsible for impacting gene expression in S. pneumoniae and S. suis. The GAS type I system is located on the core chromosome, while sporadically present type II orphan methyltransferases were identified on prophages. By combining single-molecule real-time (SMRT) analyses of 10 distinct emm types along with phylogenomics of 224 strains, we were able to assign 13 methylation patterns to the GAS population. Inactivation of the type I RM system, occurring either naturally through phage insertion or through laboratory-induced gene deletion, abrogated DNA methylation detectable via either SMRT or MinION sequencing. Contrary to a previous report, inactivation of the type I system did not impact transcript levels of the gene (mga) encoding the key multigene activator protein (Mga) or Mga-regulated genes. Inactivation of the type I system significantly increased plasmid transformation rates. These data delineate the breadth of the core chromosomal type I RM system in the GAS population and clarify its role in immunity rather than impacting Mga regulon expression. IMPORTANCE The advent of whole-genome approaches capable of detecting DNA methylation has markedly expanded appreciation of the diverse roles of epigenetic modification in prokaryotic physiology. For example, recent studies have suggested that DNA methylation impacts gene expression in some streptococci. The data described herein are from the first systematic analysis of DNA methylation in a beta-hemolytic streptococcus and one of the few analyses to comprehensively characterize DNA methylation across hundreds of strains of the same bacterial species. We clarify that DNA methylation in group A Streptococcus (GAS) is primarily due to a type I restriction modification (RM) system present in the core genome and does not impact mga-regulated virulence gene expression, but does impact immunity against exogenous DNA. The identification of the DNA motifs recognized by each type I RM system may assist with optimizing methods for GAS genetic manipulation and help us understand how bacterial pathogens acquire exogenous DNA elements.

Dataset Information

Identification of isp, a locus encoding an immunogenic secreted protein conserved among group A streptococci.

Publications

Identification of isp, a locus encoding an immunogenic secreted protein conserved among group A streptococci.

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