Pathogenesis of the pneumonia 'superbug'
Caused primarily by Streptococcus pneumoniae, the incidence of non-vaccine drug-resistant strains are on the rise. This increases the need to find effective broad-range vaccines to lower infection and improve patient survival, particularly in the case of infants. Scientists of the EU-funded project 'Identification of genetic determinants involved in Streptococcus pneumoniae pathogenesis' (TN-SEQ) worked on identifying genes associated with the growth and pathogenesis of this bacterium. They used an insertion knockout strategy for this purpose. Using micro arrays and next generation sequencing methodologies such as transposon sequencing, researchers pinpointed genes critical for S. pneumoniae survival and pathogenesis. Associated pathways were identified using statistical analysis, pathway analysis, network reconstruction and functional category enrichment methods. Moreover, they successfully determined factors affecting S. pneumoniae persistence and virulence in the host. This helped in shortlisting promising drug and vaccine candidates for further investigation and validation after generating knockouts. Project outcomes have helped determine promising antibiotic drug targets through proof of concept studies. These warrant further investigation and successful outcomes in future clinical trials would mitigate the severity of this life-threatening pathogen.
