Legionnaires' disease (LD) is an often severe and potentially fatal form of bacterial
pneumonia caused by an extensive list of Legionella species. These ubiquitous freshwater …

Highlights•WGS is unique in offering the resolution to investigate direct pathogen
transmission.•Confirmation of direct transmission needs multiple sequences from donors & …

Streptococcus pyogenes (group A Streptococcus; GAS) is a strict human pathogen with a
very high prevalence worldwide. This review highlights the genetic organization of the …

Although prokaryotic DNA methylation investigations have long focused on immunity against
exogenous DNA, it has been recently recognized that DNA methylation impacts gene …

Natural transformation, or competence, is an ability inherent to bacteria for the uptake of
extracellular DNA. This process is central to bacterial evolution and allows for the rapid …

Group A streptococcus (GAS), the causative agent of pharyngitis and necrotizing fasciitis,
secretes the potent cysteine protease SpeB. Several lines of evidence suggest that SpeB is …

Two-component gene regulatory systems (TCSs) are a major mechanism by which bacteria
respond to environmental stimuli and thus are critical to infectivity. For example, the c ontrol …

Clonal replacement is a major driver for changes in bacterial disease epidemiology.
Recently, it has been proposed that episodic emergence of novel, hypervirulent clones of …

Inactivating mutations in the c ontrol ofv irulence two-component regulatory system (covRS)
often account for the hypervirulent phenotype in severe, invasive group A streptococcal …

Hypervirulent disease due to group A Streptococcus (GAS) can result from strains with
mutations that enhance virulence gene expression but reduce subsequent transmission. We …