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.

Bordetella (B.) bronchiseptica and Streptococcus (S.) suis are major pathogens in pigs, which are frequently isolated from co-infections in the respiratory tract and contribute to the porcine respiratory disease complex (PRDC). Despite the high impact of co-infections on respiratory diseases of swine (and other hosts), very little is known about pathogen-pathogen-host interactions and the mechanisms of pathogenesis.

The Wageningen University & Research group recently published ((Ferrando et al) in Pathogens about the competence of Streptococcus suis, an important zoonotic agent and porcine pathogen, for genetic transformation with plasmid or linear DNA when cultured in active porcine and human serum.

A figure in a recent paper published by the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover based on work conducted in the PIGSs project was selected as cover page in Microorganisms, an open-access journal from MDPI.