National Institute of Allergy andInfectious Diseases (NIAID)
http://www.niaid.nih.gov FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, Jul. 15,
2002 A common bacterium can turn into a potent killer if it
picks up the right set of genes, but how and when those genes
are acquired has remained poorly understood. In a new study,
researchers show that special viruses are the culprits behind
the emergence of virulent select new bacterial strains. Those
viruses, called bacteriophages, specifically infect bacteria,
capture some of their genes, and transfer the genes from one
microbe to the next. By moving genes among their hosts,
bacteriophages can create new bacterial strains with potentially
deadly properties. The discovery, which will reported this week
in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences, highlights an important mechanism for bacterial
evolution and identifies several potential targets for vaccines
or drugs to prevent or treat some severe infections. Group A
Streptococcus (GAS) bacteria are comm