Abstract
Streptococcus pyogenes is a very important human pathogen, commonly associated with skin or throat infections but can also cause life-threatening situations including sepsis, streptococcal toxic shock syndrome, and necrotizing fasciitis. Various studies involving typing and molecular characterization of S. pyogenes have been published to date; however next-generation sequencing (NGS) studies provide a comprehensive collection of an organism’s genetic variation. In this study, the genomes of nine S. pyogenes isolates associated with pharyngitis and skin infection were sequenced and studied for the presence of virulence genes, resistance elements, prophages, genomic recombination, and other genomic features. Additionally, a comparative phylogenetic analysis of the isolates with global clones highlighted their possible evolutionary lineage and their site of infection. The genomes were found to also house a multitude of features including gene regulation systems, virulence factors and antimicrobial resistance mechanisms.
Highlights
Streptococcus pyogenes, referred to as Group A Streptococcus (GAS) for harboring Lancefield group A antigen, is a clinically important human pathogen [1]
SP5 was grouped with the reference strains A20, M1476 and M1GAS SF370 indicating that these genomes are closely related given the fact that they all belong to the same clonal complex and emm type
The hypervariable FCT region was found to be of Type3 in all of the isolates excluding SP8, which exhibited an FCT-1 organization
Summary
Streptococcus pyogenes, referred to as Group A Streptococcus (GAS) for harboring Lancefield group A antigen, is a clinically important human pathogen [1]. Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) and prophage integration are common amongst S. pyogenes genomes giving them plasticity and genomic variation [7]. These factors collectively confer additional virulence and resistance capabilities and alter the regulation of existing genes [8]. Emm , and 28, which were the most common types, were reported as being susceptible to penicillin and vancomycin but resistant to erythromycin and clindamycin [12]. In this study we sequenced the genomes of nine S. pyogenes isolates representing the most commonly recovered emm types to build on the previous findings and to elucidate the molecular epidemiology, genomics, and phylogenomics of this important human pathogen
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