title: Repeated passage of freshly isolated group A streptococci on blood agar. II. Effect on adherence capacity.
abstract: Group A streptococcal strains (three T-type 1, two T-type 2 and three T-type 4), freshly isolated from throat cultures, were subjected to 25 serial passages on blood agar. All strains changed their M protein production and/or opacity factor (OF)-activity during the passages. The capacity of each strain to adhere to a pool of buccal cells from six healthy individuals was studied both before and after passage. Five of six strains with decreased OF-activity/M protein production diminished significantly in adherence capacity, whereas one of two strains with increasing OF-activity adhered better to the epithelial cells. The results are discussed in relation to the clinical view of asymptomatic carriers of group A streptococci.
mesh_terms: D000362:Agar; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D002353:Carrier State / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases / Q000378:metabolism; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D013297:Streptococcus pyogenes / Q000166:cytology / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D002352:Carrier Proteins; C021908:opacity factor; C014689:streptococcal M protein; D000362:Agar; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases