Closed-Tube Multiplex Real-Time PCR for the Detection of Group A Streptococcal Superantigens.

Conventional PCR techniques are laborious and usually not suited for fast screening of large sample numbers in a clinical or research setting. Using this closed-tube multiplex real-time PCR, the presence of all 11 Streptococcus pyogenes superantigen (SAg) genes can be rapidly and accurately characterized. Identifying whether a strain contains a SAg can be done within 4 h compared to conventional methods which would take 11 times as long. This method provides an excellent diagnostic tool as well as a screening tool to help researchers clarify the role of SAgs in S. pyogenes infections.

[1]  T. Proft,et al.  Identification and Characterization of Novel Superantigens from Streptococcus pyogenes , 1999, The Journal of experimental medicine.

[2]  E. Charpentier,et al.  Toxin-gene profile heterogeneity among endemic invasive European group A streptococcal isolates. , 2003, The Journal of infectious diseases.

[3]  Birgit Plümäkers,et al.  A new closed-tube multiplex real-time PCR to detect eleven superantigens of Streptococcus pyogenes identifies a strain without superantigen activity. , 2007, International journal of medical microbiology : IJMM.

[4]  D. Bessen,et al.  Genetic linkage of exotoxin alleles and emm gene markers for tissue tropism in group A streptococci. , 1999, The Journal of infectious diseases.

[5]  Meng-Yao Liu,et al.  Genome sequence of a serotype M3 strain of group A Streptococcus: Phage-encoded toxins, the high-virulence phenotype, and clone emergence , 2002, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[6]  J. McCormick,et al.  Functional Characterization of Streptococcal Pyrogenic Exotoxin J, a Novel Superantigen , 2001, Infection and Immunity.

[7]  T. Proft,et al.  The Streptococcal Superantigen Smez Exhibits Wide Allelic Variation, Mosaic Structure, and Significant Antigenic Variation , 2000, The Journal of experimental medicine.

[8]  K. Acharya,et al.  Structural features of a zinc binding site in the superantigen strepococcal pyrogenic exotoxin A (SpeA1): Implications for MHC class II recognition , 2001, Protein science : a publication of the Protein Society.

[9]  T. Isono,et al.  Streptococcal mitogenic exotoxin Z, a novel acidic superantigenic toxin produced by a T1 strain of Streptococcus pyogenes , 1997, Infection and immunity.

[10]  J. Musser,et al.  Characterization of Two Novel Pyrogenic Toxin Superantigens Made by an Acute Rheumatic Fever Clone of Streptococcus pyogenes Associated with Multiple Disease Outbreaks , 2002, Infection and Immunity.

[11]  T. Proft,et al.  Two Novel Superantigens Found in Both Group A and Group C Streptococcus , 2003, Infection and Immunity.

[12]  L. Rink,et al.  Superantigen genes are more important than the emm type for the invasiveness of group A Streptococcus infection. , 2010, The Journal of infectious diseases.

[13]  V. Arcus,et al.  Immunological and Biochemical Characterization of Streptococcal Pyrogenic Exotoxins I and J (SPE-I and SPE-J) from Streptococcus pyogenes1 , 2001, The Journal of Immunology.

[14]  Bruce A. Roe,et al.  Complete genome sequence of an M1 strain of Streptococcus pyogenes , 2001, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[15]  U. Hahn,et al.  Exclusion of bioactive contaminations in Streptococcus pyogenes erythrogenic toxin A preparations by recombinant expression in Escherichia coli , 1997, Infection and immunity.

[16]  C. Fitzner,et al.  Epidemiology and distribution of 10 superantigens among invasive Streptococcus pyogenes disease in Germany from 2009 to 2014 , 2017, PloS one.

[17]  J. Musser,et al.  Characterization and clonal distribution of four alleles of the speA gene encoding pyrogenic exotoxin A (scarlet fever toxin) in Streptococcus pyogenes , 1991, The Journal of experimental medicine.

[18]  M. Farley,et al.  Identification of superantigen genes speM, ssa, and smeZ in invasive strains of beta-hemolytic group C and G streptococci recovered from humans. , 2003, FEMS microbiology letters.