Identification of a chimeric emm gene and novel emm pattern in currently circulating strains of emm4 Group A Streptococcus. uri icon

abstract

  • Group A Streptococcus (GAS) is classified on the basis of the sequence of the gene encoding the M protein (emm) and the patterns into which emm types are grouped. We discovered a novel emm pattern in emm4 GAS, historically considered pattern E, arising from a fusion event between emm and the adjacent enn gene. We identified the emm-enn fusion event in 51 out of 52 emm4 GAS strains isolated by national surveillance in 2015. GAS isolates with an emm-enn fusion event completely replaced pattern E emm4 strains over a 4-year span in Houston (2013-2017). The novel emm-enn gene fusion and new emm pattern has potential vaccine implications.

published proceedings

  • Microb Genom

altmetric score

  • 1.25

author list (cited authors)

  • DebRoy, S., Li, X., Kalia, A., Galloway-Pena, J., Shah, B. J., Fowler, V. G., Flores, A. R., & Shelburne, S. A.

citation count

  • 9

complete list of authors

  • DebRoy, Sruti||Li, Xiqi||Kalia, Awdhesh||Galloway-Pena, Jessica||Shah, Brittany J||Fowler, Vance G||Flores, Anthony R||Shelburne, Samuel A

publication date

  • November 2018