Nicholas J Croucher

Aug 13, 2024 | biorxiv.org | Min Jung Kwun |Alexandru Ion |Nicholas J Croucher |Katinka J Apagyi

AbstractMany integrative mobile genetic elements (MGEs) are sensitive to RecA-DNA filaments, suggesting their activation may enable them to evade deletion through homologous recombination (HR). This was studied using pneumococcal prophage. Most pneumococci contained prophage that inhibited transformation-mediated HR through chromosomal modification. These included a commonly-targeted attB that reduced transformation by modifying the small cytoplasmic RNA.

May 10, 2024 | nature.com | Yu Wan |Ho Kwong Li |Xavier Didelot |Nicholas J Croucher |Elita Jauneikaite |Colin Brown | +1 more

AbstractThe UK observed a marked increase in scarlet fever and invasive group A streptococcal infection in 2022 with severe outcomes in children and similar trends worldwide. Here we report lineage M1UK to be the dominant source of invasive infections in this upsurge. Compared with ancestral M1global strains, invasive M1UK strains exhibit reduced genomic diversity and fewer mutations in two-component regulator genes covRS. The emergence of M1UK is dated to 2008.

Mar 27, 2024 | enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com | Nicholas J Croucher

THE CHALLENGES OF PRODUCING ANTI-BACTERIAL VACCINES The rapid deployment of vaccines to curtail recent outbreaks of mpox (Deputy et al., 2023), SARS-CoV-2 (Jackson et al., 2020) and ebola (Regules et al., 2015) highlights the speed with which new or existing vaccines can be developed, licensed and applied against many zoonotic viruses.