CVI Accepts, published online ahead of print on 30 July 2008

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Clin. Vaccine Immunol. doi:10.1128/CVI.00112-08
Copyright (c) 2008, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Type determination by PCR and Dot Blotting of Streptococcus agalactiae Strains from Zimbabwe Revealed Distinctive Features of Surface-Anchored Proteins

Rooyen T. Mavenyengwa, Johan A. Maeland^*, and Sylvester R. Moyo

Department of Medical Microbiology, College of Health Sciences, University of Zimbabwe; Department of Laboratory Medicine, Children's and Women's Health, St Olav Hospital, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU); Department of Life and Consumer Sciences, School of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of South Africa (UNISA)

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: johan.meland{at}ntnu.no.

The distribution of capsular polysaccharide (CPS) types and subtypes (serovariants) among 121 group B streptococcal (GBS) strains from Zimbabwe was examined. PCR was used for detection of both CPS types and the surface-anchored and strain-variable proteins C, C, Alp1, Alp2, Alp3, R4/Rib, and Alp4. Detection of the R3 protein was antibody-based by using monoclonal anti-R3 antibody in dot blotting. The CPS types detected, Ia (15.7%), Ib (11.6%), II (8.3%), III (38.8%), V (24.0%) and NT (1.7%), were essentially as expected on the basis of data from Western countries. The type V strains showed distinctive features with respect to protein markers in that Alp3 was detected in only 6.9% of the isolates while R3 occurred in 75.9% and R4(Rib )in 37.9% of the isolates. R3 occurred nearly always in combination with one of the alpha-like proteins (Alp) and it was the third most common of the proteins studied. These results show that type V GBS from Zimbabwe differed from type V strains from other geographical areas and also emphasize the importance of the R3 protein in GBS serotyping, and its potential importance in the immunobiology of GBS including a potential role in a future GBS vaccine.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Mavenyengwa, R. T., Maeland, J. A., Moyo, S. R. (2009). Putative Novel Surface-Exposed Streptococcus agalactiae Protein Frequently Expressed by the Group B Streptococcus from Zimbabwe. CVI 16: 1302-1308 [Abstract] [Full Text]