Emergence and global dissemination of host-specific Streptococcus agalactiae clones.

ABSTRACT: To examine the global diversity of Streptococcus agalactiae (group B streptococci [GBS]) and to elucidate the evolutionary processes that determine its population genetics structure and the reported changes in host tropism and infection epidemiology, we examined a collection of 238 bovine and human isolates from nine countries on five continents. Phylogenetic analysis based on the sequences of 15 housekeeping genes combined with patterns of virulence-associated traits identified a genetically heterogeneous core population from which virulent lineages occasionally emerge as a result of recombination affecting major segments of the genome. Such lineages, like clonal complex 17 (CC17) and two distinct clusters of CC23, are exclusively adapted to either humans or cattle and successfully spread

SUBMITTER: Sorensen UB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2932510 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature