Streptococcal diseases have been recognized in recorded history for over two thousand years and remain today as a serious cause of worldwide health problems. Early research revealed that the streptococci were not only among the first organisms thought to be the cause of contagious diseases, but their presence initiated the introduction of cleanliness and the use of sterile procedures into hospital settings. More recent research on streptococci demonstrated that the hereditary material was DNA, paving the way to present day molecular and genomic studies. This book is focused on one of the streptococci, Streptococcus pyogenes (the group A Streptococcus), the bacteria responsible for diseases, such as scarlet fever, pharyngitis, impetigo, cellulitis, necrotizing fasciitis and toxic shock syndrome, as well as the sequelae of rheumatic fever and acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis. The goal of the 30 chapters in this volume is to present an up to date and comprehensive review of research on this organism, including its basic biology, epidemiology, genetics and pathways that facilitate group A streptococcal infections. Our intention is that this information will provide an important resource for the general public, students, researchers, and clinicians in future work towards an understanding of the mechanism of Streptococcus pyogenes disease, in hopes that it will lead to better methods of disease control.

Contents

• Preface
• History of Streptococcal Research
  Joseph Ferretti and Werner Köhler.
  Created: February 10, 2016.
• M Protein and Other Surface Proteins on Streptococci
  Vincent A. Fischetti.
  Created: February 10, 2016.
• Streptococcus pyogenes Pili
  Immaculada Margarit y Ros.
  Created: February 10, 2016; Last Update: March 25, 2016.
• Cell Wall and Surface Molecules: Capsule
  Michael R. Wessels.
  Created: February 10, 2016; Last Update: March 25, 2016.
• The spatial regulation of protein sorting in Streptococcus pyogenes
  Assaf Raz.
  Created: February 10, 2016; Last Update: March 25, 2016.
• Molecular Basis of Serotyping and the Underlying Genetic Organization of Streptococcus pyogenes
  Debra E. Bessen.
  Created: February 10, 2016; Last Update: March 25, 2016.
• Streptococcus pyogenes Metabolism
  Vijay Pancholi and Michael Caparon.
  Created: February 10, 2016.
• Streptococcus pyogenes Genomics
  Fumito Maruyama, Takayasu Watanabe, and Ichiro Nakagawa.
  Created: February 10, 2016.
• The Bacteriophages of Streptococcus pyogenes
  W. Michael McShan and Scott V. Nguyen.
  Created: February 10, 2016; Last Update: March 25, 2016.
• The CRISPR-Cas system of Streptococcus pyogenes: function and applications
  Luciano A. Marraffini.
  Created: April 7, 2016.
• The Streptococcal Proteome
  Eduardo A. Callegari and Michael S. Chaussee.
  Created: February 10, 2016.
• Virulence-Related Transcriptional Regulators of Streptococcus pyogenes
  Luis A. Vega, Horst Malke, and Kevin S. McIver.
  Created: February 10, 2016; Last Update: March 25, 2016.
• Secreted Extracellular Virulence Factors
  Wayne Hynes and Melanie Sloan.
  Created: February 10, 2016; Last Update: March 25, 2016.
• Streptococcal Superantigens: Biological properties and potential role in disease
  Thomas Proft and John D. Fraser.
  Created: February 10, 2016.
• Streptococcus pyogenes Biofilm
  Christie Young, Robert C. Holder, Lily Dubois, and Sean D. Reid.
  Created: February 10, 2016.
• Group A Streptococcal Adherence
  Patricia A. Ryan and Barbara Juncosa.
  Created: February 10, 2016; Last Update: March 25, 2016.
• Adhesion and invasion of Streptococcus pyogenes into host cells and clinical relevance of intracellular streptococci
  Manfred Rohde and P. Patrick Cleary.
  Created: February 10, 2016.
• The Streptococcus pyogenes Carrier State
  Judith Martin.
  Created: July 25, 2016.
• Epidemiology of Streptococcus pyogenes
  Androulla Efstratiou and Theresa Lamagni.
  Created: February 10, 2016; Last Update: April 3, 2017.
• Animal Models of Streptococcus pyogenes Infection
  Michael E. Watson, Jr., Melody N. Neely, and Michael G. Caparon.
  Created: February 10, 2016.
• Global Disease Burden of Group A Streptococcus
  Amy Sims Sanyahumbi, Samantha Colquhoun, Rosemary Wyber, and Jonathan R. Carapetis.
  Created: February 10, 2016.
• Pharyngitis and Scarlet Fever
  Michael R. Wessels.
  Created: February 10, 2016; Last Update: March 25, 2016.
• Impetigo, Erysipelas and Cellulitis
  Dennis L. Stevens and Amy E. Bryant.
  Created: February 10, 2016.
• Severe Group A Streptococcal Infections
  Dennis L. Stevens and Amy E. Bryant.
  Created: February 10, 2016.
• Acute Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease
  Dianne Sika-Paotonu, Andrea Beaton, Aparna Raghu, Andrew Steer, and Jonathan Carapetis.
  Created: March 10, 2017; Last Update: April 3, 2017.
• Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections (PANDAS)
  Graziella Orefici, Francesco Cardona, Carol J. Cox, and Madeleine W. Cunningham.
  Created: February 10, 2016.
• Post-Streptococcal Glomerulonephritis
  Bernardo Rodriguez-Iturbe and Mark Haas.
  Created: February 10, 2016.
• Post-Streptococcal Autoimmune Sequelae: Rheumatic Fever and Beyond
  Madeleine W. Cunningham.
  Created: February 10, 2016.
• Laboratory Diagnosis of Streptococcus pyogenes (group A streptococci)
  Barbara Spellerberg and Claudia Brandt.
  Created: February 10, 2016.
• Mechanisms of Antibiotic Resistance
  Vincent Cattoir.
  Created: February 10, 2016.
• Current Approaches to Group A Streptococcal Vaccine Development
  James B. Dale, Michael R. Batzloff, P. Patrick Cleary, Harry S. Courtney, Michael F. Good, Guido Grandi, Scott Halperin, Immaculada Y. Margarit, Shelly McNeil, Manisha Pandey, Pierre R. Smeesters, and Andrew C. Steer.
  Created: February 10, 2016.