Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-04T21:11:32.086Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Inhibition of β-haemolysis by opacity factor in group A streptococci

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

Alison M. Pinney ,
Jean P. Widdowson  and
W. R. Maxted
Alison M. Pinney
Affiliation:
Cross-Infection Reference Laboratory, Central Public Health Laboratory Colindale Avenue, London, NW9 5HT
Jean P. Widdowson
Affiliation:
Cross-Infection Reference Laboratory, Central Public Health Laboratory Colindale Avenue, London, NW9 5HT
W. R. Maxted
Affiliation:
Cross-Infection Reference Laboratory, Central Public Health Laboratory Colindale Avenue, London, NW9 5HT
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Group-A streptococci belonging to opacity-factor (OF)-positive M types were poorly haemolytic on horse-blood agar, but members of OF-negative M types, and M-negative variants of OF-positive strains gave good haemolysis. Horse-serum extracts of strains of OF-negative serotypes 6 and 12, and M-negative variant cultures of OF-positive serotypes 4 and 49, had higher titres of streptolysin S than did similar extracts of OF-positive, M-positive cultures of types 4 and 49. However, much larger amounts of streptolysin S could be extracted with ribonuclease (RNAase)-digested yeast ribonucleic acid (RNA) and M-positive OF-positive cultures treated in this way gave extracts at least as strong as did their M-negative variants or the OF-negative strains. Extraction of streptolysin S from OF-negative strains by serum could be inhibited by previous incubation of the serum with extracellular OF, suggesting that the production of diffusable OF by M-positive variants of OF-positive serotypes interferes with the extraction of streptolysin S by serum and leads to poor haemolysis on blood agar.

The haemolysis of all strains on blood agar was greatly improved by the incorporation of 0·1% (w/v) RNAase-digested yeast RNA into the medium, but the improvement was most marked in OF-positive serotypes.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Hygiene , Volume 78 , Issue 3 , June 1977 , pp. 355 - 362
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

References

REFERENCES

Dillon, H. C. (1968). Impetigo contagiosa: suppurative and non-suppurative complications. I. Clinical, bacteriologic and epidemiologic characteristics of impetigo. American Journal of Diseases of Children 115, 530–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ginsburg, I. (1970). In Microbial Toxins, (ed. Montie, T. C., Kadis, S. and Ajl, S. J.). pp. 99–171. New York, London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Griffith, F. (1934). The serological classification of Streptococcus pyogenes. Journal of Hygiene 34, 542–84.Google ScholarPubMed
Krumweide, E. (1954). Studies on a lipoproteinase of group-A streptococci. Journal of Experimental Medicine 100, 629–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liao, S. J. (1951). A modification of the antistreptolysin test. Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine 38, 648–59.Google ScholarPubMed
Maxted, W. R., Widdowson, J. P., Fraser, C. A. M., Ball, L. C. & Bassett, D. C. J. (1973). The use of the serum opacity reaction in the typing of group-A streptococci. Journal of Medical Microbiology 6, 83–90.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Okamoto, H. (1940). Über die hochgradige Steingerung des Hämolysinbildungs vermögens des Streptococcus haemolyticus durch Nukleinsäure. Japanese Journal of Medical Science. (IV Pharmacology) 12, 167–208.Google Scholar
Okamoto, H., Shoin, S., Koshimura, S. & Shimizir, R. (1967). Studies on the anticancer and streptolysin S-forming abilities of hemolytic streptococci. Japanese Journal of Microbiology 11, 323–36.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pinney, A. M. (1974). Some type-associated characteristics of group-A streptococci. In Streptococcal Disease and the Community, pp. 56–63. Proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium on Streptococcus pyogenes. Amsterdam, 1972. Excerpta Medica Foundation.Google Scholar
Rowen, R. & Martin, J. (1963). Enhancement of cholesterol esterification in serum by an extract of a group A streptococcus. Biochimica et biophysica acta 70, 396–405.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Swift, H. F., Wilson, A. T. & Lancefield, R. C. (1943). Typing group A hemolytic streptococci by M precipitin reactions in capillary pipettes. Journal of Experimental Medicine 78, 127–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wannamaker, L. W. (1970). Differences between streptococcal infections of the throat and of the skin. New England Journal of Medicine 282, 23–31; 78–85.Google Scholar
Weld, J. T. (1935). Further studies with toxic serum extracts of hemolytic streptococci. Journal of Experimental Medicine 61, 473–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Widdowson, J. P., Maxted, W. R. & Grant, D. L. (1970). The production of opacity in serum by group A streptococci, and its relationship with the presence of M antigen. Journal of General Microbiology 61, 343–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar