title: Combining microarray technology and molecular epidemiology to identify genes associated with invasive group B streptococcus.
abstract: Many bacterial species function as both commensals and pathogens; we used this dual nature to develop a high-throughput molecular epidemiological approach to identifying bacterial virulence genes. We applied our approach to Group B Streptococcus (GBS). Three representative commensal and one invasive GBS isolates were selected as tester strains from a population-based collection. We used microarray-based comparative genomic hybridization to identify open reading frames (ORFs) present in two sequenced invasive strains, but absent or divergent in tester strains. We screened 23 variable ORFs against 949 GBS isolates using a GBS Library on a Slide (LOS) microarray platform. Four ORFs occurred more frequently in invasive than commensal isolates, and one appeared more frequently in commensal isolates. Comparative hybridization using an oligonucleotide microarray, combined with epidemiologic screening using the LOS microarray platform, enabled rapid identification of bacterial genes potentially associated with pathogenicity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Lixin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Usha
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Reddi
authors.forename: Usha
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Srinivasan
authors.forename: Sheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Stephanie M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Borchardt
authors.forename: Parvathy
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pillai
authors.forename: Puja
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mehta
authors.forename: Anne N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Styka
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Debusscher
authors.forename: Carl F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Marrs
authors.forename: Betsy
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Foxman