Association of T Antigens with emm Genotypes of Group A Streptococci.
- Author:
Hyun Ju JUNG
1
;
Eun Ha KOH
;
Sunjoo KIM
;
Kook Young MAENG
;
Sung Ha KANG
Author Information
1. Department of Laboratory Medicine, Masan Medical Center, Masan, Korea.
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Group A streptococci;
Streptococcus pyogenes;
T antigen;
emm genotype;
Epidemiology;
Pharyngitis
- MeSH:
Antigens, Viral, Tumor*;
Child;
Epidemiology;
Genotype*;
Gyeongsangnam-do;
Humans;
Mass Screening;
Pharyngitis;
Polymerase Chain Reaction;
Sequence Analysis, DNA;
Streptococcus pyogenes;
Virulence
- From:Korean Journal of Clinical Microbiology
2006;9(1):18-23
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: T typing has been used as a screening test for epidemiologic studies of group A streptococci (GAS) infections or carriers, and M typing has been performed for virulence studies. However, M typing is difficult to perform in routine laboratories. Recently, genotyping of the emm gene, which encodes the M protein, has become available. We investigated which T antigen is closely associated with a certain emmgenotype. METHODS: GAS were collected from the children in Jinju who were asymptomatic carriers (N=349) or had acute pharyngitis (N=122) during the 3 year-period from 2002 through 2004. T typing was performed by a slide aggulutination, and emmgenotyping by PCR and DNA sequencing. RESULTS: More than 90% of T1, T3, T6, T12, T25, and T5/27/44 antigens were associated with emm1, emm3, emm6, emm12 and 22, emm75, and emm44/61 genotypes, respectively; however, other T antigens, such as T2, T4, T7, T11, and B3264, were not associated with any particular emm genotypes. CONCLUSION: Several T antigens are so closely associated with particular emm genotypes that one could predict emmgenotypes based on the result of T typing.
