Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is the primary cause of invasive infections (e.g., bacteremia and meningitis) in newborns and pregnant women and an increasingly important cause of disease in the elderly. While a lot of attention has recently been focused on the discovery of GBS virulence genes, little is known about the contributions and interactions between them towards the pathogenicity of GBS. We propose a detailed molecular epidemiologic study of invasive and maternal colonizing isolates obtained from prospective population-based surveillance and two pregnancy- related cohort studies conducted in the Province of Alberta, Canada (population approximately 2.8 million) over an eight-year period.
Specific Aim1 : To characterize the clonal relationships and multiple virulence gene profiles of invasive GBS in a population based study.
Specific Aim 2 : To compare differences in the virulence gene profiles between colonizing vaginal-rectal derived GBS isolates and invasive isolates.
Specific Aim 3 : To investigate the impact of the delivery process and antibiotic treatment on the clonal composition and antigenic diversity of GBS colonizing the vaginal-rectal tract. Our ability to use GBS isolates from a population based study to identify specific virulence genes, virulence gene profiles, and certain clonal types that are associated with both colonization and clinical disease would greatly improve our understanding of the pathogenesis of invasive GBS disease. It will also aid in epidemiological studies to establish relationships between strains and determine what role if any specific phenotypes should play in vaccine development. In addition, the assessment of colonizing GBS strains will provide fundamental insights into the nature of GBS colonization, which is the critical first step preceding neonatal transmission, infection and disease.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AI066081-03
Application #
7214668
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-CRFS (01))
Program Officer
Rubin, Fran A
Project Start
2005-06-15
Project End
2009-02-28
Budget Start
2007-03-01
Budget End
2008-02-29
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2007
Total Cost
$286,350
Indirect Cost
Name
Michigan State University
Department
Pediatrics
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
193247145
City
East Lansing
State
MI
Country
United States
Zip Code
48824
Springman, Amber Cody; Lacher, David W; Waymire, Emily A et al. (2014) Pilus distribution among lineages of group b streptococcus: an evolutionary and clinical perspective. BMC Microbiol 14:159
Singh, Pallavi; Springman, A Cody; Davies, H Dele et al. (2012) Whole-genome shotgun sequencing of a colonizing multilocus sequence type 17 Streptococcus agalactiae strain. J Bacteriol 194:6005
Manning, Shannon D; Springman, A Cody; Million, Amber D et al. (2010) Association of Group B Streptococcus colonization and bovine exposure: a prospective cross-sectional cohort study. PLoS One 5:e8795
Springman, A Cody; Lacher, David W; Wu, Guangxi et al. (2009) Selection, recombination, and virulence gene diversity among group B streptococcal genotypes. J Bacteriol 191:5419-27
Manning, Shannon D; Springman, A Cody; Lehotzky, Erica et al. (2009) Multilocus sequence types associated with neonatal group B streptococcal sepsis and meningitis in Canada. J Clin Microbiol 47:1143-8
Manning, Shannon D; Lewis, Maggi A; Springman, A Cody et al. (2008) Genotypic diversity and serotype distribution of group B streptococcus isolated from women before and after delivery. Clin Infect Dis 46:1829-37
Manning, Shannon D; Schaeffer, Katherine E; Springman, A Cody et al. (2008) Genetic diversity and antimicrobial resistance in group B streptococcus colonizing young, nonpregnant women. Clin Infect Dis 47:388-90
Manning, Shannon D; Ki, Moran; Marrs, Carl F et al. (2006) The frequency of genes encoding three putative group B streptococcal virulence factors among invasive and colonizing isolates. BMC Infect Dis 6:116
Manning, Shannon D; Wood, Stephen; Kasha, Katherine et al. (2006) Naturally occurring antibodies for the group B streptococcal surface immunogenic protein (Sip) in pregnant women and newborn babies. Vaccine 24:6905-12
Manning, Shannon D; Lacher, David W; Davies, H Dele et al. (2005) DNA polymorphism and molecular subtyping of the capsular gene cluster of group B streptococcus. J Clin Microbiol 43:6113-6