Open AccessSortase A contributes to pneumococcal nasopharyngeal colonization in the chinchilla model
Author(s) -
Chen Shu,
Paterson Gavin K.,
Tong Hua Hua,
Mitchell Timothy J.,
DeMaria Thomas F.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1016/j.femsle.2005.09.052
Subject(s) - streptococcus pneumoniae , colonization , sortase a , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , pneumococcal infections , klebsiella pneumoniae , neuraminidase , staphylococcus aureus , virology , bacteria , genetics , escherichia coli , gene , antibiotics , virus
Sortase A (SrtA) is required to anchor neuraminidase, β‐galactosidase, and possibly other LPXTG motif proteins to the pneumococcal cell surface. We examined the role of SrtA in Streptococcus pneumoniae nasopharyngeal (NP) colonization in the chinchilla model. The srtA mutant colonized the nasopharynx at a significantly lower level than the D39 parent strain during the second and third week of the carriage, and was eliminated from nasopharynx one week earlier than the D39 pneumococci. Our data indicate that SrtA contributes to pneumococcal NP colonization in this animal model.