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Truncated xpt gene present in invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae may have implications for MLST schemes

M A Diggle1, S C Clarke1

  • 1Scottish 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.

Journal of Medical Microbiology
|September 15, 2005
PubMed

Insights

A truncated xanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (xpt) gene in a disease-causing pneumococcus strain can lead to misidentification during multi-locus sequence typing (MLST). This highlights potential issues with genetic characterization methods.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Genetics
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • Streptococcus pneumoniae is a significant cause of bacterial infections.
  • Accurate bacterial identification is crucial for effective treatment and epidemiological studies.
  • Multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) is a common method for bacterial strain characterization.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To describe a novel finding of a truncated xanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (xpt) gene in a clinical isolate of serotype 1 Streptococcus pneumoniae.
  • To highlight the potential impact of this genetic anomaly on MLST-based identification.
  • To underscore the possibility of similar gene deletions in other bacterial species characterized by MLST.

Main Methods:

  • Characterization of a clinical isolate of serotype 1 Streptococcus pneumoniae.
  • Analysis of the xanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (xpt) gene sequence.
  • Assessment of the impact of the identified deletion on multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) protocols.

Main Results:

  • A serotype 1 disease-causing pneumococcus isolate was found to possess a truncated xanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (xpt) housekeeping gene.
  • The deletion within the xpt gene is located in a region critical for MLST.
  • This truncation may lead to erroneous characterization of the bacterial isolate.

Conclusions:

  • The identification of a truncated xpt gene in a clinical pneumococcal isolate necessitates careful consideration during genetic characterization.
  • Genetic deletions, such as the one observed in the xpt gene, can compromise the accuracy of MLST.
  • Further investigation into the prevalence and implications of gene deletions in MLST-targeted regions is warranted for various bacterial species.

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