The N-terminal domain of the R28 protein promotes emm28 group A Streptococcus adhesion to host cells via direct binding to three integrins.

Group A Streptococcus (GAS) is a human-specific pathogen responsible for a wide range of diseases, ranging from superficial to life-threatening invasive infections, including endometritis, and autoimmune sequelae. GAS strains express a vast repertoire of virulence factors that varies depending on the strain genotype, and many adhesin proteins that enable GAS to adhere to host cells are restricted to some genotypes. GAS emm28 is the third most prevalent genotype in invasive infections in France and is associated with gyneco-obstetrical infections. emm28 strains harbor R28, a cell wall-anchored surface protein that has previously been reported to promote adhesion to cervical epithelial cells. Here, using cellular and biochemical approaches, we sought to determine whether R28 supports adhesion also to other cells and to characterize its cognate receptor. We show that through its N-terminal domain, R28Nt, R28 promotes bacterial adhesion to both endometrial-epithelial and endometrial-stromal cells. R28Nt was further subdivided into two domains, and we found that both are involved in cell binding. R28Nt and both subdomains interacted directly with the laminin-binding α3ß1, α6ß1, and α6ß4 integrins; interestingly, these bindings events did not require divalent cations. R28 is the first GAS adhesin reported to bind directly to integrins that are expressed in most epithelial cells. Finally, R28Nt also promoted binding to keratinocytes and pulmonary epithelial cells, suggesting that it may be involved in supporting the prevalence in invasive infections of the emm28 genotype.

A clone of the emergent Streptococcus pyogenes emm89 clade responsible for a large outbreak in a post-surgery oncology unit in France.

An outbreak of nosocomial infections due to Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A Streptococcus; GAS) occurred in a post-surgery oncology unit and concerned more than 60 patients and lasted 20 months despite enhanced infection control and prophylaxis measures. All GAS strains were characterized (emm genotype, toxin gene profile and pulse-field gel electrophoresis subtype). Selected strains were sequenced and phylogenetic relationship established. Capacity to form biofilm and interaction with human pulmonary epithelial cells and macrophages were determined. Twenty-six GAS strains responsible for invasive infections (II) and 57 for non-II or colonization were isolated from patients (n = 66) or healthcare workers (n = 13). Seventy strains shared the same molecular markers and 69 the same PFGE pattern; 56 were sequenced. They all belonged to the emerging emm89 clade 3; all but 1 were clonal. Whole genome sequencing identified 43 genetic profiles with sporadic mutations in regulatory genes and acquired mutations in 2 structural genes. Except for two regulatory gene mutants, all strains tested had the same biofilm formation capacity and displayed similar adherence and invasion of pulmonary epithelial cells and phagocytosis and survival in human macrophages. This large outbreak of GAS infection in a post-surgery oncology unit, a setting that contains highly susceptible patients, arose from a strain of the emergent emm89 clade. No relationship between punctual or acquired mutations, invasive status, and strain phenotypic characteristics was found. Noteworthy, the phenotypic characteristics of this clone account for its emergence and its remarkable capacity to elicit outbreaks.

Molecular Characterization of Nonhemolytic and Nonpigmented Group B Streptococci Responsible for Human Invasive Infections.

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a common commensal bacterium in adults, but is also the leading cause of invasive bacterial infections in neonates in developed countries. The ß-hemolysin/cytolysin (ß-h/c), which is always associated with the production of an orange-to-red pigment, is a major virulence factor that is also used for GBS diagnosis. A collection of 1,776 independent clinical GBS strains isolated in France between 2006 and 2013 was evaluated on specific medium for ß-h/c activity and pigment production. The genomic sequences of nonhemolytic and nonpigmented (NH/NP) strains were analyzed to identify the molecular basis of this phenotype. Gene deletions or complementations were carried out to confirm the genotype-phenotype association. Sixty-three GBS strains (3.5%) were NH/NP, and 47 of these (74.6%) originated from invasive infections, including bacteremia and meningitis, in neonates or adults. The mutations are localized predominantly in the cyl operon, encoding the ß-h/c pigment biosynthetic pathway and, in the abx1 gene, encoding a CovSR regulator partner. In conclusion, although usually associated with GBS virulence, ß-h/c pigment production is not absolutely required to cause human invasive infections. Caution should therefore be taken in the use of hemolysis and pigmentation as criteria for GBS diagnosis in routine clinical laboratory settings.

Rapid emergence of resistance to linezolid and mutator phenotypes in Staphylococcus aureus isolates from an adult cystic fibrosis patient.

Linezolid has emerged as an important therapeutic option for the treatment of Staphylococcus aureus in patients with cystic fibrosis. We report the rapid emergence, upon treatment with linezolid, of linezolid-resistant S. aureus clinical isolates through the accumulation of resistance-associated 23S rRNA mutations, together with acquisition of an altered mutator phenotype.

Capsular switching in group B Streptococcus CC17 hypervirulent clone: a future challenge for polysaccharide vaccine development.

BACKGROUND: The capsular polysaccharide (CPS) is an important virulence factor and a vaccine target of the major neonatal pathogen group B Streptococcus (GBS). Population studies revealed no strong correlation between CPS type and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) cluster, with the remarkable exception of the worldwide spread of hypervirulent GBS CC17, which were all until recently CPS type III. METHODS: A total of 965 GBS strains from invasive infection isolated in France were CPS typed and the presence of the CC17-specific surface protein encoding gene hvgA gene was investigated. Three hvgA-positive GBS strains screened were surprisingly CPS type IV and thus further characterized by MLST typing, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), and whole genome sequencing. RESULTS: MLST and PFGE demonstrated a capsular switching from CPS type III to IV within the highly homogeneous GBS CC17. Sequence analysis revealed that this capsular switch was due to the exchange of a 35.5-kb DNA fragment containing the entire cps operon. CONCLUSIONS: This work shows that GBS CC17 hypervirulent strains have switched one of their main vaccine targets. Thus, continued surveillance of GBS population remains of the utmost importance during clinical trials of conjugate GBS vaccines.

Contribution of endocytic motifs in the cytoplasmic tail of herpes simplex virus type 1 glycoprotein B to virus replication and cell-cell fusion.

The use of endocytic pathways by viral glycoproteins is thought to play various functions during viral infection. We previously showed in transfection assays that herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) glycoprotein B (gB) is transported from the cell surface back to the trans-Golgi network (TGN) and that two motifs of gB cytoplasmic tail, YTQV and LL, function distinctly in this process. To investigate the role of each of these gB trafficking signals in HSV-1 infection, we constructed recombinant viruses in which each motif was rendered nonfunctional by alanine mutagenesis. In infected cells, wild-type gB was internalized from the cell surface and concentrated in the TGN. Disruption of YTQV abolished internalization of gB during infection, whereas disruption of LL induced accumulation of internalized gB in early recycling endosomes and impaired its return to the TGN. The growth of both recombinants was moderately diminished. Moreover, the fusion phenotype of cells infected with the gB recombinants differed from that of cells infected with the wild-type virus. Cells infected with the YTQV-mutated virus displayed reduced cell-cell fusion, whereas giant syncytia were observed in cells infected with the LL-mutated virus. Furthermore, blocking gB internalization or impairing gB recycling to the cell surface, using drugs or a transdominant negative form of Rab11, significantly reduced cell-cell fusion. These results favor a role for endocytosis in virus replication and suggest that gB intracellular trafficking is involved in the regulation of cell-cell fusion.

Group A Streptococcus emm3 strains induce early macrophage cell death.

Group A Streptococcus (GAS) infections present high morbidity and mortality rates and consequently remain a significant health problem. The emm3 isolates induce more severe pathologies than all others. In this study, we tested, on a collection of invasive and non-invasive emm3 clinical isolates, whether in that genotype the invasive status of the strains affects the innate immune response. We show that phagocytosis is dependent on the invasiveness of the isolates. Interestingly, all emm3 isolates compromise macrophage integrity, already noticeable 1 h after infection. Inflammatory modulators (IL-6, TNF-α and IFN-ß) are nevertheless detected during at least 6 h post-infection. This is a likely consequence of the macrophages not being all infected. The efficient and rapid induction of macrophage death could explain the virulence of the emm3 strains.

Complete Genome Sequence of Streptococcus pyogenes emm28 Clinical Isolate M28PF1, Responsible for a Puerperal Fever.

We report the sequence of the Streptococcus pyogenes emm28 strain M28PF1, isolated from a patient with postpartum endometritis. The M28 protein is smaller than that of MGAS6180 (NC_007296.1). Furthermore, the 1,896,976-bp-long chromosome presents, compared to that of MGAS6180, an inversion between the two comX genes.

The innate immune response elicited by Group A Streptococcus is highly variable among clinical isolates and correlates with the emm type.

Group A Streptococcus (GAS) infections remain a significant health care problem due to high morbidity and mortality associated with GAS diseases, along with their increasing worldwide prevalence. Macrophages play a key role in the control and clearance of GAS infections. Moreover, pro-inflammatory cytokines production and GAS persistence and invasion are related. In this study we investigated the correlation between the GAS clinical isolates genotypes, their known clinical history, and their ability to modulate innate immune response. We constituted a collection of 40 independent GAS isolates representative of the emm types currently prevalent in France and responsible for invasive (57.5%) and non-invasive (42.5%) clinical manifestations. We tested phagocytosis and survival in mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages and quantified the pro-inflammatory mediators (IL-6, TNF-α) and type I interferon (INF-ß) production. Invasive emm89 isolates were more phagocytosed than their non-invasive counterparts, and emm89 isolates more than the other isolates. Regarding the survival, differences were observed depending on the isolate emm type, but not between invasive and non-invasive isolates within the same emm type. The level of inflammatory mediators produced was also emm type-dependent and mostly invasiveness status independent. Isolates of the emm1 type were able to induce the highest levels of both pro-inflammatory cytokines, whereas emm89 isolates induced the earliest production of IFN-ß. Finally, even within emm types, there was a variability of the innate immune responses induced, but survival and inflammatory mediator production were not linked.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus expressing low-level methicillin resistance may not be detected by the VITEK2® system.

Low-level methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus may be difficult to detect with the VITEK® 2 system (VK2). Here, we suggest that S. aureus exhibiting VK2-oxacillin MIC of 1 or 2 mg/L and a negative cefoxitin screen should be tested for the presence of mecA or its gene product.

Comparison of the Diversilab® system with multi-locus sequence typing and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis for the characterization of Streptococcus agalactiae invasive strains.

Streptococcus agalactiae (or group B streptococcus; GBS) is a leading cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality in the developed countries. Several epidemiological typing tools have been developed for GBS to investigate the association between genotype and disease and to assess genetic variations within genogroups. This study compared the semi-automated repetitive sequence-based PCR Diversilab® system (DL) with MLST and pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) for determining the relatedness of invasive GBS strains. We analysed 179 unrelated GBS strains isolated from adult (n=108) and neonatal (n=71) invasive infections. By MLST, strains were resolved into 6 clonal complexes (CCs) including 23 sequence-types (STs), and 4 unique STs, whereas DL differentiated these isolates into 12 rep-PCR clusters (rPCs) and 9 unique rep-PCR types. The discriminatory power of both methods was similar, with Simpson's diversity indexes of 71.9% and 70.6%, respectively. However, their clustering concordance was low with Wallace concordance coefficients inferior to 0.4. PFGE was performed on 31 isolates representative of the most relevant DLrPCs clustered within the 3 major MLST CCs (CC-17, CC-23 and CC-1). As already observed with MLST, the concordance of DL with PFGE was low for all three CCs (Wallace coefficient <0.5), PFGE being more discriminative than rep-PCR. In summary, this work suggests that DL is less appropriate than MLST or PFGE to study GBS population genetic diversity.