Role of conjugative elements in the evolution of the multidrug-resistant pandemic clone Streptococcus pneumoniaeSpain23F ST81.

ABSTRACT: Streptococcus pneumoniae is a human commensal and pathogen able to cause a variety of diseases that annually result in over a million deaths worldwide. The S. pneumoniae(Spain23F) sequence type 81 lineage was among the first recognized pandemic clones and was responsible for almost 40% of penicillin-resistant pneumococcal infections in the United States in the late 1990s. Analysis of the chromosome sequence of a representative strain, and comparison with other available genomes, indicates roles for integrative and conjugative elements in the evolution of pneumococci and, more particularly, the emergence of the multidrug-resistant Spain 23F ST81 lineage. A number of recently acquired loci within the chromosome appear to encode proteins involved in the production of, or immunity to, antimicr

SUBMITTER: Croucher NJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2648205 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature