Stress Responses in Streptococcus
Jacqueline Abranches and Josá A. Lemos
from: Stress Response in Microbiology (Edited by: Jose M. Requena). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2012)
Abstract
The genus Streptococcus is comprised of a diverse group of organisms, which includes food-associated, commensal and pathogenic species. The importance of this genus to the food industry and the capacity of certain species to infect animals and humans make streptococci one of the best-studied Gram-positive bacteria. In this chapter, we will describe the stress responses of the four major pathogenic streptococcal species: Streptococcus mutans, the etiologic agent of dental caries, S. pyogenes (commonly known as Group A Streptococcus or GAS), responsible for a variety of suppurative disesases as well as life-threatening invasive infections and post-infection sequelae, S. agalactiae (Group B Streptococcus or GBS), a major bacterial pathogen associated with neonatal infections, and S. pneumoniae, the leading causative agent of bacterial pneumoniae. In the following pages, the description of the stress response mechanisms for each individual species is presented in the context of the environmental stress condition. In addition to highlighting the cross-species conservation of certain stress reponses, this organization will allow the reader to follow the progresses obtained in each species, and, at the same time, identify areas that have been poorly explored read more ...
