Conversion of Shigella flexneri serotype 2a to serotype Y in a shigellosis patient due to a single amino acid substitution in the protein product of the bacterial glucosyltransferase gtrII gene.
Conversion of serotype from 2a to Y was demonstrated with five Shigella flexneri isolates recovered from an infected patient. When introduced into the serotype Y isolate, the glucosyltransferase (gtr) II gene of the serotype 2a isolate is capable of inducing the conversion from serotype Y to 2a. In contrast, the gtrII of the serotype Y isolate lacks the capacity to change serotype, resulting from a Cys-->Tyr substitution in its predicted protein sequence. The protein product of the gtrII gene was detected. This is the first report of serotype conversion of S. flexneri in humans, and successful detection of the protein product from a gtr gene.
Chen
Jiann-Hwa
JH
Institute of Molecular Biology, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan, Republic of China. jhchen@dragon.nchu.edu.tw
Hsu
Wen-Bin
WB
Chiou
Chien-Shun
CS
Chen
Chun-Mei
CM
D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D004405:Dysentery, Bacillary / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D005964:Glucosyltransferases / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D021141:Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques; D010957:Plasmids; D012703:Serotyping; D012763:Shigella flexneri / Q000145:classification / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*
D005964:Glucosyltransferases