Diversity of PspA: mosaic genes and evidence for past recombination in Streptococcus pneumoniae.

ABSTRACT: Pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA) is a serologically variable protein of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Twenty-four diverse alleles of the pspA gene were sequenced to investigate the genetic basis for serologic diversity and to evaluate the potential of diversity to have an impact on PspA's use in human vaccination. The 24 pspA gene sequences from unrelated strains revealed two major allelic types, termed "families," subdivided into clades. A highly mosaic gene structure was observed in which individual mosaic sequence blocks in PspAs diverged from each other by over 20% in many cases. This level of divergence exceeds that observed for blocks in the penicillin-binding proteins of S. pneumoniae or in many cross-species comparisons of gene loci. Conversely, because the mosaic pattern is so co

SUBMITTER: Hollingshead SK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC101551 | biostudies-literature | 2000 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature