Prevalence of a Streptococcal Inhibitor of a Complement-Mediated Cell lysis-like Gene (sicG) in Streptococcus Dysgalactiae subsp. Equisimilis

Abstract

Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis isolates (n = 110) were analyzed by PCR to determine whether the gene encoding SICG, a homolog of Streptococcus pyogenes SIC, was present. Nineteen strains (17%) had this gene of which 11 (55%) were isolated from patients with invasive disease. All 19 strains possessed group G carbohydrate. Molecular characterization of emm type revealed that the majority of emm sequences were stG643 and stG2078. Only the N-terminal sequence of SICG was similar to that of SIC in S. pyogenes. Although we found no significant relationship between pathogenic severity and sicG possession, further investigation into the mechanism of SICG may elucidate the virulence in S. dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis infection.

Soft tissue infection caused by Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis possessing group Aantigen: a and review of the literature

“…The SDSE can be isolated as normal flora of human skin, nasopharynx, digestive tract and genitourinary system [10,19,27]. Pharyngeal [12,33,[47][48][49] and nasal [31] carrier-state of that pathogen has been reported. The frequency of pharyngeal carrier-state is different in particular populations.…”

“…The SDSE may also cause non-invasive infections: cutaneous (impetigo [47,48]) and mucous (tonsillopharyngitis [2, 7,20,25,31,53,64], otitis media [2,40]). Sporadically, infections caused by SDSE are followed by acute glomerulonephritis [65][66][67].…”

“…The [11,16,62], patellar bursitis [57], appendicitis [4], salpingitis [22], abscesses of various locations [4,19,30,34], endocarditis [4,19,30,34,56,57], pyomyositis [21], gas gangrene [29,63], diabetic gangrene [12], and cystitis [31]. The SDSE may also cause non-invasive infections: cutaneous (impetigo [47,48]) and mucous (tonsillopharyngitis [2, 7,20,25,31,53,64], otitis media [2,40]).…”

“…For SDSE identification, the following molecular methods were used: 16S rRNA gene sequencing [5,12,[28][29][30], polymerase chain reaction (PCR) [15,28], 23S rRNA gene sequencing [31] and in situ hybridization [29].…”

Genetic Diversity in <i>Streptococcus dysgalactiae</i> subsp. <i>equisimilis</i> Isolates from Patients with Invasive and Noninvasive Infections in a Japanese University Hospital (2014&ndash;2015)

“…The streptococcal inhibitor of a complement-mediated cell lysis-like gene (sicG ) encoding a newly discovered extracellular virulence factor, is produced by only a few emm types among SDSE strains (4). The DrsG protein encoded by sicG has been shown to inhibit the antimicrobial peptide LL-37, which is expressed in sweat as an innate defense system for the skin (5).…”