Magnus G. Jespersen

Mar 12, 2024 | nature.com | Ouli Xie |Jacqueline Morris |Andrew Hayes |Magnus G. Jespersen |John Lees |Sarah L. Baines | +8 more

AbstractStreptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis (SDSE) is an emerging cause of human infection with invasive disease incidence and clinical manifestations comparable to the closely related species, Streptococcus pyogenes. Through systematic genomic analyses of 501 disseminated SDSE strains, we demonstrate extensive overlap between the genomes of SDSE and S. pyogenes.

Aug 30, 2023 | biorxiv.org | Magnus G. Jespersen |Andrew Hayes |Mark Davies

AbstractPopulations of bacterial pathogens are made of strains that often have variable gene content, termed the pangenome. Variations in the genetic makeup of a single strain can alter bacterial physiology and fitness in response to different environmental stimuli. To define biologically relevant genes within a genome, genome-wide knockout transposon mutant libraries have been used to identify genes essential for survival or virulence in a particular strain.

Feb 24, 2023 | nature.com | Mark Davies |Stephan Brouwer |Magnus G. Jespersen |Amanda J. Cork |Andrew Hayes |Miranda Pitt | +7 more

AbstractA new variant of Streptococcus pyogenes serotype M1 (designated ‘M1UK’) has been reported in the United Kingdom, linked with seasonal scarlet fever surges, marked increase in invasive infections, and exhibiting enhanced expression of the superantigen SpeA. The progenitor S. pyogenes ‘M1global’ and M1UK clones can be differentiated by 27 SNPs and 4 indels, yet the mechanism for speA upregulation is unknown.