Pneumococcal Colonization and Virulence Factors Identified Via Experimental Evolution in Infection Models.

ABSTRACT: Streptococcus pneumoniae is a commensal of the human nasopharynx and a major cause of respiratory and invasive disease. We examined adaptation and evolution of pneumococcus, within nasopharynx and lungs, in an experimental system where the selective pressures associated with transmission were removed. This was achieved by serial passage of pneumococci, separately, in mouse models of nasopharyngeal carriage or pneumonia. Passaged pneumococci became more effective colonizers of the respiratory tract and we observed several examples of potential parallel evolution. The cell wall-modifying glycosyltransferase LafA was under strong selection during lung passage, whereas the surface expressed pneumococcal vaccine antigen gene pvaA and the glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene gpsA were frequen

SUBMITTER: Green AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8136498 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature