Versatility of choline metabolism and choline-binding proteins in Streptococcus pneumoniae and commensal streptococci |
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Authors: | Regine Hakenbeck,Abderrahim Madhour,Dalia Denapaite,& Reinhold Brü ckner |
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Affiliation: | Department of Microbiology, University of Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany |
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Abstract: | The pneumococcal choline-containing teichoic acids are targeted by choline-binding proteins (CBPs), major surface components implicated in the interaction with host cells and bacterial cell physiology. CBPs also occur in closely related commensal species, Streptococcus oralis and Streptococcus mitis , and many strains of these species contain choline in their cell wall. Physiologically relevant CBPs including cell wall lytic enzymes are highly conserved between Streptococcus pneumoniae and S. mitis . In contrast, the virulence-associated CBPs, CbpA, PspA and PcpA, are S. pneumoniae specific and are thus relevant for the characteristic properties of this species. |
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Keywords: | Streptococcus pneumoniae Streptococcus oralis Streptococcus mitis choline-binding proteins teichoic acid |
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