Infections caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae (also known as pneumococci) pose a
threat to human health. Pneumococcal infections are the most common cause of milder …

The genus Streptococcus encompasses many bacterial species that are associated with
hosts, ranging from asymptomatic colonizers and commensals to pathogens with a …

Pneumolysin is a major virulence factor of Streptococcus pneumoniae that plays a key role
in interaction with the host during invasive disease. How pneumolysin influences these …

Streptococcus dysgalactiae is an emerging human and animal pathogen. Functional studies
of genes involved in virulence of S. dysgalactiae and other pyogenic group streptococci are …

Streptococcus pneumoniae is the most common cause of community-acquired pneumonia,
and one of the main pathogens responsible for otitis media infections in children. Amoxicillin …

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) has revolutionized the
field of genome editing. To circumvent the permanent modifications made by traditional …

Homologous recombination (HR) is a universally conserved mechanism of DNA strand
exchange between homologous sequences, driven in bacteria by the RecA recombinase …

Competence for natural transformation is a central driver of genetic diversity in bacteria. In
the human pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae, competence exhibits a populational …

Two-component systems are key signal-transduction systems that enable bacteria to
respond to a wide variety of environmental stimuli. The human pathogen, Streptococcus …

Competence development is essential for bacterial transformation since it enables bacteria
to take up free DNA from the surrounding environment. The regulation of teichoic acid …