title: Group A streptococcal genotypes from pediatric throat isolates in Rome, Italy.
abstract: In a study assessing genetic diversity, 114 group A streptococcus (GAS) isolates were recovered from pediatric pharyngitis patients in Rome, Italy. These isolates comprised 22 different M protein gene (emm) sequence types, 14 of which were associated with a distinct serum opacity factor/fibronectin binding protein gene (sof) sequence type. Isolates with the same emm gene sequence type generally shared a highly conserved chromosomal macrorestriction profile. In three instances, isolates with dissimilar macrorestriction profiles had identical emm types; in each of these cases multilocus sequence typing revealed that isolates with the same emm type were clones having the same allelic profiles. Ninety-eight percent of the pharyngeal isolates had emm types previously found to be highly associated with mga locus gene patterns commonly found in pharyngeal GAS isolates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Microbiology, Università Campus Bio-Medico, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dicuonzo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gherardi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lorino
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Angeletti
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Cesaris
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fiscarelli
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Bessen
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Beall
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases / Q000235:genetics; D010612:Pharyngitis / Q000382:microbiology*; D010614:Pharynx / Q000382:microbiology*; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D013297:Streptococcus pyogenes / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D002352:Carrier Proteins; C021908:opacity factor; C014689:streptococcal M protein; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases