Open AccessAnalysis and identification of IS 1548 insertion targets in S treptococcus agalactiae
Author(s) -
Fléchard Maud,
Gilot Philippe,
HéryArnaud Geneviève,
Mereghetti Laurent,
Rosenau Agnès
Publication year - 2013
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 - 10.1111/1574-6968.12076
Subject(s) - streptococcus agalactiae , insertion sequence , operon , orfs , biology , virulence , insertion , genetics , microbiology and biotechnology , atp binding cassette transporter , gene , streptococcus , bacteria , escherichia coli , transposable element , peptide sequence , transporter , mutation , genome , open reading frame
The prevalence of the insertion sequence IS 1548 is strongly linked to clonal complex 19 Streptococcus agalactiae strains associated with neonatal meningitis and endocarditis. We previously reported that IS 1548 insertion upstream of lmb is involved in stronger binding of a S. agalactiae meningitic strain to laminin. A few other IS 1548 insertion sites were also identified by others. In this study, we analyzed IS 1548 described target sites in S . agalactiae and showed that most of them are linked to zinc‐responsive genes. Moreover, we identified two not yet described IS 1548 insertion sites in the adc RCB operon encoding the main regulator of zinc homeostasis and subunits of a zinc ABC transporter. We also identified two conserved motifs of 8 and 10 bp close to IS 1548 insertion sites. These motifs representing potential IS 1548 targets were found upstream of several S. agalactiae ORF s. One of these predicted IS 1548 targets was validated experimentally, allowing the identification of an IS 1548 insertion site upstream of murB in all of the clonal complex 19 strains tested. The possible effects of these insertions on the virulence of the strains are discussed.