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Updated: Oct 30, 2025

A Fluorescence-based Method to Study Bacterial Gene Regulation in Infected Tissues
Published on: February 19, 2019
Streptococcus pyogenes ("Group A Streptococcus"), a Highly Adapted Human Pathogen-Potential Implications of Its
Nikolai Siemens1, Rudolf Lütticken2
1Department of Molecular Genetics and Infection Biology, Interfaculty Institute for Genetics and Functional Genomics, University of Greifswald, 17487 Greifswald, Germany.
Abstract:
Streptococcus pyogenes (group A streptococci; GAS) is an exclusively human pathogen. It causes a variety of suppurative and non-suppurative diseases in people of all ages worldwide. Not all can be successfully treated with antibiotics. A licensed vaccine, in spite of its global importance, is not yet available. GAS express an arsenal of virulence factors responsible for pathological immune reactions. The transcription of all these virulence factors is under the control of three types of virulence-related regulators: (i) two-component systems (TCS), (ii) stand-alone regulators, and (iii) non-coding RNAs. This review summarizes major TCS and stand-alone transcriptional regulatory systems, which are directly associated with virulence control. It is suggested that this treasure of knowledge on the genetics of virulence regulation should be better harnessed for new therapies and prevention methods for GAS infections, thereby changing its global epidemiology for the better.
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