title: Truncated xpt gene present in invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae may have implications for MLST schemes.
abstract: A serotype 1 disease-causing pneumococcus possessing a truncated xanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (xpt) housekeeping gene is described. The deletion is within the gene region used for multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) and may have occurred through genetic transformation or capsule switch between clones. The identification of this deletion in a clinical isolate therefore warrants highlighting due to potential errors that may ensue in isolate characterization and due to the fact that deletions may occur in other genes in this or other species characterized by MLST.
authors.affiliation: Scottish Meningococcus and Pneumococcus Reference Laboratory, House on the Hill, Stobhill Hospital, Balornock Road, Glasgow G21 3UW, UK 2Division of Infection and Immunity, Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Joseph Black Building, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Diggle
authors.affiliation: Scottish Meningococcus and Pneumococcus Reference Laboratory, House on the Hill, Stobhill Hospital, Balornock Road, Glasgow G21 3UW, UK 2Division of Infection and Immunity, Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Joseph Black Building, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK.
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Clarke
mesh_terms: D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D001483:Base Sequence; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010430:Pentosyltransferases / Q000235:genetics*; D011008:Pneumococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000145:classification* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D010430:Pentosyltransferases; C024827:xanthine phosphoribosyltransferase