Acquisition through Horizontal Gene Transfer of Plasmid pSMA198 by Streptococcus macedonicus ACA-DC 198 Points towards the Dairy Origin of the Species

摘要

Background Streptococcus macedonicus is an intriguing streptococcal species whose most frequent source of isolation is fermented foods similarly to Streptococcus thermophilus. However, S. macedonicus is closely related to commensal opportunistic pathogens of the Streptococcus bovis/Streptococcus equinus complex.