SaiY of the Streptococcus pyogenes lantibiotic locus is required for full virulence and intracellular survival in macrophages

摘要

Streptococcus pyogenes utilizes numerous mechanisms for evading the host immune response but has only recently been found to survive in the intracellular environment. In this study, we demonstrate the requirement of a putative ABC transporter permease for intracellular survival in macrophages. The highly attenuated S. pyogenes mutant, SalY, was identified from a transposon mutagenesis screen, with over 200-fold attenuation in virulence in a zebrafish invasive-disease model. Sequencing of the region surrounding the insertion identified a locus that is highly conserved in other S. pybgenes genomes and is homologous to an operon involved in lantibiotic production.