Progressive evolution of <i>Streptococcus equi</i> from <i>Streptococcus equi</i> subsp. <i>zooepidemicus</i> and adaption to equine hosts.

ABSTRACT: Streptococcus equi subsp. equi causes the equine respiratory disease 'strangles', which is highly contagious, debilitating and costly to the equine industry. S. equi emerged from the ancestral Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus and continues to evolve and disseminate globally. Previous work has shown that there was a global population replacement around the beginning of the twentieth century, obscuring the early genetic events in this emergence. Here, we have used large-scale genomic analysis of S. equi and its ancestor S. zooepidemicus to identify evolutionary events, leading to the successful expansion of S. equi. One thousand two hundred one whole-genome sequences of S. equi were recovered from clinical samples or from

SUBMITTER: Wilson HJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12453393 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature