Emerging Infectious Disease ISSN: 1080-6059

Bacterial Phenotype Variants in Group B Streptococcal Toxic Shock Syndrome1

Parham Sendi²

, Linda Johansson, Samira Dahesh, Nina M. Van Sorge, Jessica Darenberg, Mari Norgren, Jan Sjölin, Victor Nizet, and Anna Norrby-Teglund

Author affiliations: Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden (P. Sendi, L. Johansson, A. Norrby-Teglund); Basel University Medical Clinic, Liestal, Switzerland (P. Sendi); University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA (S. Dahesh, N.M. Van Sorge, V. Nizet); Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, Stockholm (J. Darenberg); Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden (M. Norgren); Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden (J. Sjölin)

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Figure 1

A) Hemolytic zone on blood agar plate after 48 h: Low hemolytic (LH) colony and high hemolytic (HH) colony. B) Hemolytic activity of the pigment extract presented as hemolytic capacity (left graph) relative to that of sodium dodecyl sulfate (100%) and as hemolytic titer (right graph) evaluated with a microdilution assay. Error bars indicate SEM. C) Phenotypic appearance of group B streptococci after overnight culture in Todd-Hewitt broth plus 1.5% yeast extract, displaying a white pellet (LH) an

Figure 1. A) Hemolytic zone on blood agar plate after 48 h: Low hemolytic (LH) colony and high hemolytic (HH) colony. B) Hemolytic activity of the pigment extract presented as hemolytic capacity (left graph) relative to that of sodium dodecyl sulfate (100%) and as hemolytic titer (right graph) evaluated with a microdilution assay. Error bars indicate SEM. C) Phenotypic appearance of group B streptococci after overnight culture in Todd-Hewitt broth plus 1.5% yeast extract, displaying a white pellet (LH) and an orange pellet (HH). D) Absorbance profile of the pigment extract. E) Results of CAMP testing, which display a stronger reaction with the LH than with the HH phenotype.

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¹Part of this work was presented at Lancefield 2008 International Symposium on Streptococci and Streptococcal Diseases, Porto Heli, Greece, June 22–26, 2008.

²Current affiliation: Clinic for Infectious Diseases, University Hospital Bern, Bern, Switzerland.

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