Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-12-2014
Publication Title
Nature Communications
Department
Geisel School of Medicine
Abstract
Streptococcus pneumoniae, an inhabitant of the upper respiratory mucosa, causes respiratory and invasive infections as well as conjunctivitis. Strains that lack the capsule, a main virulence factor and the target of current vaccines, are often isolated from conjunctivitis cases. Here we perform a comparative genomic analysis of 271 strains of conjunctivitis-causing S. pneumoniae from 72 postal codes in the United States. We find that the vast majority of conjunctivitis strains are members of a distinct cluster of closely related unencapsulated strains. These strains possess divergent forms of pneumococcal virulence factors (such as CbpA and neuraminidases) that are not shared with other unencapsulated nasopharyngeal S. pneumoniae. They also possess putative adhesins that have not been described in encapsulated pneumococci. These findings suggest that the unencapsulated strains capable of causing conjunctivitis utilize a pathogenesis strategy substantially different from that described for S. pneumoniae at other infection sites.
DOI
10.1038/ncomms6411
Dartmouth Digital Commons Citation
Valentino, Michael D.; McGuire, Abigail Manson; Rosch, Jason W.; Bispo, Paulo J.M; Burnham, Corinna; Sanfilippo, Christine M.; Carter, Robert A.; Zegans, Michael E.; Beall, Bernard; Earl, Ashlee M.; Tuomanen, Elaine I.; Morris, Timothy W.; Haas, Wolfgaang; and Gilmore, Michael S., "Unencapsulated Streptococcus Pneumoniae from Conjunctivitis Encode Variant Traits and Belong to a Distinct Phylogenetic Cluster" (2014). Dartmouth Scholarship. 3519.
https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/facoa/3519
