Group A Streptococcus (GAS) is a human-adapted pathogen that causes a variety of diseases, including pharyngitis and invasive infections. GAS strains are categorized by variation in the nucleotide sequence of the gene (emm) that encodes the M protein. To identify the emm types of GAS strains causing pharyngitis in Ontario, Canada, we sequenced the hypervariable region of the emm gene in 4,635 p...

To investigate the epidemiological patterns and genetic characteristics of disease caused by group A Streptococcus (GAS), all available isolates from invasive cases in Norway during 2006 to 2007 (262 isolates) were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing, T serotyping, emm typing, and multilocus sequence typing and screened for known streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin (Spe) genes, smeZ,...

A rapid PCR-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for identification of 10 important emm gene types of Streptococcus pyogenes was developed. The emm genotypes of a coded panel of strains of known M serotype were determined, and in 144 of 149 cases (97%) the results were congruous. Strains of types that were not included in the panel of capture probes were emm genotyped by sequencing.

Since the late 1990s, the prevalence of erythromycin-resistant Streptococcus pyogenes has significantly increased in several European countries. Between January 1999 and December 2002, 1,577 isolates of S. pyogenes were recovered from children with tonsillopharyngitis living in various areas of Western Greece. Erythromycin resistance was observed in 379 (24%) of the 1,577 isolates. All erythrom...

This study examines the diversity of superantigen gene profiles between and within emm-genotypes of 92 clinical group A streptococcal isolates (30 STSS, 24 sepsis, 25 erysipelas, and 12 tonsillitis) collected in Sweden between 1986 and 2001. The emm-genotype and the distribution of smeZ, speG, speJ, speA, speC, speH, speI, speK/L, speL/M, speM, and ssa genes, and the smeZ allelic variant were d...

In group A streptococci, genetic markers for principal tissue reservoir are located within emm genes, which encode surface proteins that have a role in virulence. A worldwide collection of 160 isolates was evaluated for two traits: chromosomal emm gene markers for tissue tropism (designated patterns A-E), and bacteriophage-associated genes (speA and speC) encoding pyrogenic exotoxins. The speA ...

A nationwide laboratory-based surveillance study of invasive S. pyogenes infections was conducted in Germany. Invasive isolates (n = 719) were obtained between 2009 and 2014. Most isolates were obtained from blood (92.1%). The proportions of isolates from cerebrospinal fluid, pleural fluid, synovial fluid and peritoneal fluid were 3.9%, 1.8%, 1.7% and 0.6%, respectively. The most common emm typ...

The FCT regions of Streptococcus pyogenes strains encode a variety of cell wall-anchored surface proteins that bind the extracellular matrix of the human host and/or give rise to pilus-like appendages. Strong linkage is evident between transcription-regulatory loci positioned within the FCT and emm regions and the emm pattern genotype marker for preferred infection of the throat or skin. These ...

BACKGROUND Group A Streptococcus (GAS) strain diversity varies across different regions of the world, according to low versus high-income countries. These differences may be related to geographic, environmental, socioeconomic, or host-related factors. However, local factors may also affect strain diversity. We compared the emm types of GAS isolates from children with and without sore throat in ...

All clinical isolates of Streptococcus pyogenes (group A streptococcus) share the ability to resist phagocytosis and grow in human blood. In many strains, this property is due to the expression of a single antiphagocytic M protein, while other strains express more than one M-like molecule, of which the role in phagocytosis resistance is unclear. In particular, all S. pyogenes strains of the OF+...