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Research Paper |
Department of Medical Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene, University Hospital Rostock, Schillingallee 70, D-18055 Rostock, Germany1
Department of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, University Hospital Ulm, Robert-Koch-Str. 8, D-89091 Ulm, Germany2
Author for correspondence: Bernd Kreikemeyer. Tel: +49 381 494 5900. Fax: +49 381 494 5902. e-mail: Bernd.Kreikemeyer{at}med.uni-rostock.de
RofA-like protein (RALP) type regulators have been shown to exist in different forms in group A streptococci (GAS) and to regulate the expression of important bacterial adhesins. This study shows that the vast majority of strains from different GAS M serotypes carried a rofA virulence regulator gene in their genome and that this gene could be detected in combination with other RALP genes and RALP-dependent adhesin genes in a strain-specific manner. The gene encoding the Nra regulator was predominantly found in opacity factor (OF)-negative serotypes. When analysing a rofA mutant in a serotype M2 strain, the strain specificity was also found in the positive and negative regulatory functions of RALP genes as well as in the type and number of virulence genes and functions controlled by the RALP genes. Of 17 virulence-associated genes tested, only one, the putative streptolysin S gene, was observed to be derepressed in RALP mutants of three different GAS serotype strains. This strain-specific variability of RALP regulon sizes is associated with different patterns of host cell attachment and internalization. In addition, RofA2 was shown to control expression of the ribosomal protein gene rpsL. As a consequence, it was demonstrated for the first time in streptococci that aminoglycoside resistance mediated by rpsL expression is apparently controlled by a virulence gene regulator.
Keywords: Streptococcus pyogenes, response regulator, virulence gene regulation, adherence and internalization, bacteria–host cell interaction
Abbreviations: GAS, group A streptococci; MSCRAMM, microbial surface components recognizing adhesive matrix molecules; OF, opacity factor; RALP, RofA-like protein
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