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pubmed:abstractText |
Streptococcus pneumoniae is the leading cause of community-acquired pneumonia. Previously, using comparative genomic analyses, 13 regions of genomic plasticity have been identified in the S. pneumoniae genome. These "Regions of Diversity" (RDs) accounted for half the genomic variation observed amongst all pneumococci tested, moreover, were determined to encode a variety of putative virulence factors. To date, genes within 5 RDs have been unequivocally demonstrated to contribute to S. pneumoniae virulence. It is unknown if the remaining RDs also contribute to virulence.
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pubmed:affiliation |
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA. embrya@uthscsa.edu
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