Carlos Neila had his dissertation today and presented his work on epidemiological and pathological studies for Streptococcus suis. We congratulate him and wish him all the best for his future career. 

His thesis summary ...

DLO, partner in PIGSs and TRANSVAC, the European vaccine research infrastructure initiative, co-published a  paper based on a consultation of stakeholders to identify how to best position and sustain a European vaccine research and development (R&D) infrastructure. The results of this gaps-and-needs analysis have been just published in Biologicals, from International Alliance for Biological Standardization.

The latest PIGSs meeting in Sitges (Barcelona, Spain) was a major success. First time after a long Covid-19 period, the PIGSs consortium met face-to-face for two days (19-20 April) in Sitges during Spring time. 

What factors influence the bacteria mutation rate? The group at UCAM (Murray & Weinert et al) show that in Streptococcus suis, invasive disease strains have faster rates, while genome size has no effect. This work was published in PlOS Genetics. 

Piglet innate immune response to Streptococcus suis colonization is modulated by the virulence of the strain

A close collaboration between IRTA and DTU in work package 3 of the PIGSs project led to the important paper which has been published open access in Veterinary Research. 

A PIGSs collaboration between the laboratories of TiHo (Hannover, DE) and DLO (Lelystad, NL) led to the identification of the mid-cell anchored protein Z (MapZ) which is involved in cell division in Streptococcus suis, an emerging zoonotic pathogen. The deletion of this gene leads to morphological growth defects including aberrant cell shapes and sizes as well as mispositioned division septa. Moreover, the absence of MapZ results in reduced biological fitness in the host.

The group of Prof. Schultsz and Dr. Van der Ark recently published a systematic review and genomic meta-analysis on the identification of Streptococcus suis putative zoonotic virulence factors.

A recent scientific article has been published by the Host-Microbe-Interactions group at WUR on competence development for genetic transformation in the emerging zoonotic pathogen Streptococcus suis.

Manouk Vrieling has been working at our institute for almost 2 years now: 'I study the interaction between bacteria and the host immune system in order to find new strategies to prevent diseases in livestock. For example, I’m working on vaccine development for Streptococcus suis. This bacterium is a common cause of serious illness such as meningitis in piglets. A vaccine would mean fewer infections, better animal welfare and less use of antibiotics.'

A newly published report by Prof. Tracy Nicholson et al of the National Animal Disease Center, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, provides a framework for future allelic replacement and/or functional genomic studies investigating genetic characteristics underlying the spectrum of disease outcomes caused by Streptococcus suis isolates.