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Hall JN, Bah SY, Khalid H, Brailey A, Coleman S, Kirk T, Hussain N, Tovey M, Chaudhuri RR, Davies S, Tilley L, de Silva T, Turner CE. Molecular characterization of Streptococcus pyogenes (StrepA) non-invasive isolates during the 2022-2023 UK upsurge. Microb Genom 2024; 10:001277. [PMID: 39133528 PMCID: PMC11318961 DOI: 10.1099/mgen.0.001277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2024] [Accepted: 07/11/2024] [Indexed: 08/13/2024] Open
Abstract
At the end of 2022 into early 2023, the UK Health Security Agency reported unusually high levels of scarlet fever and invasive disease caused by Streptococcus pyogenes (StrepA or group A Streptococcus). During this time, we collected and genome-sequenced 341 non-invasive throat and skin S. pyogenes isolates identified during routine clinical diagnostic testing in Sheffield, a large UK city. We compared the data with that obtained from a similar collection of 165 isolates from 2016 to 2017. Numbers of throat-associated isolates collected peaked in early December 2022, reflecting the national scarlet fever upsurge, while skin infections peaked later in December. The most common emm-types in 2022-2023 were emm1 (28.7 %), emm12 (24.9 %) and emm22 (7.7 %) in throat and emm1 (22 %), emm12 (10 %), emm76 (18 %) and emm49 (7 %) in skin. While all emm1 isolates were the M1UK lineage, the comparison with 2016-2017 revealed diverse lineages in other emm-types, including emm12, and emergent lineages within other types including a new acapsular emm75 lineage, demonstrating that the upsurge was not completely driven by a single genotype. The analysis of the capsule locus predicted that only 51 % of throat isolates would produce capsule compared with 78% of skin isolates. Ninety per cent of throat isolates were also predicted to have high NADase and streptolysin O (SLO) expression, based on the promoter sequence, compared with only 56% of skin isolates. Our study has highlighted the value in analysis of non-invasive isolates to characterize tissue tropisms, as well as changing strain diversity and emerging genomic features which may have implications for spillover into invasive disease and future S. pyogenes upsurges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer N. Hall
- Division of Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine and Population Health, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
- The Florey Institute of Infection, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
- School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Banjul, The Gambia
| | - Saikou Y. Bah
- The Florey Institute of Infection, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
- School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Banjul, The Gambia
| | - Henna Khalid
- The Florey Institute of Infection, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
- School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Alison Brailey
- Laboratory Medicine, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield, UK
| | - Sarah Coleman
- Laboratory Medicine, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield, UK
| | - Tracey Kirk
- Laboratory Medicine, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield, UK
| | - Naveed Hussain
- Laboratory Medicine, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield, UK
| | - Mark Tovey
- Laboratory Medicine, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield, UK
| | - Roy R. Chaudhuri
- The Florey Institute of Infection, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
- School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Steve Davies
- Laboratory Medicine, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield, UK
| | - Lisa Tilley
- Laboratory Medicine, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield, UK
| | - Thushan de Silva
- Division of Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine and Population Health, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
- The Florey Institute of Infection, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Claire E. Turner
- The Florey Institute of Infection, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
- School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
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DebRoy S, Shropshire WC, Vega L, Tran C, Horstmann N, Mukherjee P, Selvaraj-Anand S, Tran TT, Bremer J, Gohel M, Arias CA, Flores AR, Shelburne SA. Identification of distinct impacts of CovS inactivation on the transcriptome of acapsular group A streptococci. mSystems 2023; 8:e0022723. [PMID: 37358280 PMCID: PMC10470059 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00227-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 05/11/2023] [Indexed: 06/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Group A streptococcal (GAS) strains causing severe, invasive infections often have mutations in the control of virulence two-component regulatory system (CovRS) which represses capsule production, and high-level capsule production is considered critical to the GAS hypervirulent phenotype. Additionally, based on studies in emm1 GAS, hyperencapsulation is thought to limit transmission of CovRS-mutated strains by reducing GAS adherence to mucosal surfaces. It has recently been identified that about 30% of invasive GAS strains lacks capsule, but there are limited data regarding the impact of CovS inactivation in such acapsular strains. Using publicly available complete genomes (n = 2,455) of invasive GAS strains, we identified similar rates of CovRS inactivation and limited evidence for transmission of CovRS-mutated isolates for both encapsulated and acapsular emm types. Relative to encapsulated GAS, CovS transcriptomes of the prevalent acapsular emm types emm28, emm87, and emm89 revealed unique impacts such as increased transcript levels of genes in the emm/mga region along with decreased transcript levels of pilus operon-encoding genes and the streptokinase-encoding gene ska. CovS inactivation in emm87 and emm89 strains, but not emm28, increased GAS survival in human blood. Moreover, CovS inactivation in acapsular GAS reduced adherence to host epithelial cells. These data suggest that the hypervirulence induced by CovS inactivation in acapsular GAS follows distinct pathways from the better studied encapsulated strains and that factors other than hyperencapsulation may account for the lack of transmission of CovRS-mutated strains. IMPORTANCE Devastating infections due to group A streptococci (GAS) tend to occur sporadically and are often caused by strains that contain mutations in the control of virulence regulatory system (CovRS). In well-studied emm1 GAS, the increased production of capsule induced by CovRS mutation is considered key to both hypervirulence and limited transmissibility by interfering with proteins that mediate attachment to eukaryotic cells. Herein, we show that the rates of covRS mutations and genetic clustering of CovRS-mutated isolates are independent of capsule status. Moreover, we found that CovS inactivation in multiple acapsular GAS emm types results in dramatically altered transcript levels of a diverse array of cell-surface protein-encoding genes and a unique transcriptome relative to encapsulated GAS. These data provide new insights into how a major human pathogen achieves hypervirulence and indicate that factors other than hyperencapsulation likely account for the sporadic nature of the severe GAS disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sruti DebRoy
- Department of Infectious Diseases Infection Control and Employee Health, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - William C. Shropshire
- Department of Infectious Diseases Infection Control and Employee Health, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Luis Vega
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Department of Pediatrics, McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston and Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Chau Tran
- Department of Infectious Diseases Infection Control and Employee Health, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Nicola Horstmann
- Department of Infectious Diseases Infection Control and Employee Health, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Piyali Mukherjee
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Department of Pediatrics, McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston and Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA
| | | | - Truc T. Tran
- Center for Infectious Diseases, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, Texas, USA
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Jordan Bremer
- Department of Infectious Diseases Infection Control and Employee Health, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Marc Gohel
- Department of Infectious Diseases Infection Control and Employee Health, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Cesar A. Arias
- Center for Infectious Diseases, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, Texas, USA
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Anthony R. Flores
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Department of Pediatrics, McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston and Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Samuel A. Shelburne
- Department of Infectious Diseases Infection Control and Employee Health, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA
- Department of Genomic Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA
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Tang J, Guo M, Chen M, Xu B, Ran T, Wang W, Ma Z, Lin H, Fan H. A link between STK signalling and capsular polysaccharide synthesis in Streptococcus suis. Nat Commun 2023; 14:2480. [PMID: 37120581 PMCID: PMC10148854 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38210-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2022] [Accepted: 04/20/2023] [Indexed: 05/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Synthesis of capsular polysaccharide (CPS), an important virulence factor of pathogenic bacteria, is modulated by the CpsBCD phosphoregulatory system in Streptococcus. Serine/threonine kinases (STKs, e.g. Stk1) can also regulate CPS synthesis, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here, we identify a protein (CcpS) that is phosphorylated by Stk1 and modulates the activity of phosphatase CpsB in Streptococcus suis, thus linking Stk1 to CPS synthesis. The crystal structure of CcpS shows an intrinsically disordered region at its N-terminus, including two threonine residues that are phosphorylated by Stk1. The activity of phosphatase CpsB is inhibited when bound to non-phosphorylated CcpS. Thus, CcpS modulates the activity of phosphatase CpsB thereby altering CpsD phosphorylation, which in turn modulates the expression of the Wzx-Wzy pathway and thus CPS production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinsheng Tang
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Mengru Guo
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Min Chen
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Bin Xu
- National Research Center of Veterinary Biologicals Engineering and Technology, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, 210000, China
| | - Tingting Ran
- Department of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Weiwu Wang
- Department of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Zhe Ma
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China
- Jiangsu Coinnovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, 225009, China
| | - Huixing Lin
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China
- Jiangsu Coinnovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, 225009, China
| | - Hongjie Fan
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China.
- Jiangsu Coinnovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, 225009, China.
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Morimura A, Hamaguchi S, Akeda Y, Tomono K. Mechanisms Underlying Pneumococcal Transmission and Factors Influencing Host-Pneumococcus Interaction: A Review. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2021; 11:639450. [PMID: 33996623 PMCID: PMC8113816 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.639450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2020] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Streptococcus pneumoniae (also called pneumococcus) is not only a commensal that frequently colonizes the human upper respiratory tract but also a pathogen that causes pneumonia, sepsis, and meningitis. The mechanism of pneumococcal infection has been extensively studied, but the process of transmission has not been fully elucidated because of the lack of tractable animal models. Novel animal models of transmission have enabled further progress in investigating pneumococcal transmission mechanisms including the processes such as pneumococcal shedding, survival in the external environment, and adherence to the nasopharynx of a new host. Herein, we present a review on these animal models, recent research findings about pneumococcal transmission, and factors influencing the host-pneumococcus interaction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayumi Morimura
- Department of Infection Control and Prevention, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan
| | - Shigeto Hamaguchi
- Department of Infection Control and Prevention, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan.,Division of Infection Control and Prevention, Osaka University Hospital, Osaka, Japan
| | - Yukihiro Akeda
- Department of Infection Control and Prevention, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan.,Division of Infection Control and Prevention, Osaka University Hospital, Osaka, Japan.,Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Kazunori Tomono
- Department of Infection Control and Prevention, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan.,Division of Infection Control and Prevention, Osaka University Hospital, Osaka, Japan
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LaRock DL, Russell R, Johnson AF, Wilde S, LaRock CN. Group A Streptococcus Infection of the Nasopharynx Requires Proinflammatory Signaling through the Interleukin-1 Receptor. Infect Immun 2020; 88:e00356-20. [PMID: 32719155 PMCID: PMC7504964 DOI: 10.1128/iai.00356-20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2020] [Accepted: 07/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Group A Streptococcus (GAS) is the etiologic agent of numerous high-morbidity and high-mortality diseases. Infections are typically highly proinflammatory. During the invasive infection necrotizing fasciitis, this is in part due to the GAS protease SpeB directly activating interleukin-1β (IL-1β) independent of the canonical inflammasome pathway. The upper respiratory tract is the primary site for GAS colonization, infection, and transmission, but the host-pathogen interactions at this site are still largely unknown. We found that in the murine nasopharynx, SpeB enhanced IL-1β-mediated inflammation and the chemotaxis of neutrophils. However, neutrophilic inflammation did not restrict infection and instead promoted GAS replication and disease. Inhibiting IL-1β or depleting neutrophils, which both promote invasive infection, prevented GAS infection of the nasopharynx. Mice pretreated with penicillin became more susceptible to GAS challenge, and this reversed the attenuation from neutralization or depletion of IL-1β, neutrophils, or SpeB. Collectively, our results suggest that SpeB is essential to activate an IL-1β-driven neutrophil response. Unlike during invasive tissue infections, this is beneficial in the upper respiratory tract because it disrupts colonization resistance mediated by the microbiota. This provides experimental evidence that the notable inflammation of strep throat, which presents with significant swelling, pain, and neutrophil influx, is not an ineffectual immune response but rather is a GAS-directed remodeling of this niche for its pathogenic benefit.
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Affiliation(s)
- Doris L LaRock
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Raedeen Russell
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Anders F Johnson
- Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Program, Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Shyra Wilde
- Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Program, Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Christopher N LaRock
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- Antimicrobial Resistance Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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