CRISPR interference in a <i>Streptococcus agalactiae</i> multi-locus sequence type 17 strain
Group B Streptococcus (GBS) remains the world's leading cause of neonatal meningitis. GBS-host interactions at the blood-brain barrier (BBB) are dependent on bacterial factors, including surface factors and two-component systems. Multi-locus sequence type 17 (ST-17) GBS strains are highly associated with neonatal meningitis, and these strains harbor many virulence factors for infection at the BBB. Historically, these factors have been studied using traditional knockout mutagenesis, which has been challenging in the most common ST-17 lab strain, COH1. This study utilizes CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) to generate rapid expression knockdown. This study validates a CRISPRi-enabled COH1 dCas9 strain as a versatile tool for probing GBS pathogenesis at the BBB.
Authors
- Thomas A. Hooven (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1959-186X)
- Brandon J. Kim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0476-8028)
- William D. Cutts (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7881-2127)
- Bryan Jhonatan Vera Estrada
- Audrey Sweten (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-6522-5380)
- Kristin Hobson
- Brice Gorman
- Jacob F. Wood
- Katelin Stilen
- Taksh Vaghela
- Areebah Mehvish
- Alexus Govert
- Vishwas Subash
- Benjamin Klemp
- Austin Sandobal
- Kathryn N. Seely
- Aidan W. Flanagan
- Gideon H. Hillebrand
Institutions
- Belmont Abbey College (US)
- University of Arizona (US)
- The University of Texas at Dallas (US)
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- University of Alabama (US)
- University of Alabama at Birmingham (US)
- Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh (US)
- Richard King Mellon Foundation (US)
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- University of Toledo (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Bacteriology
- Published
- 2026-01-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1128/jb.00376-25
- Primary Topic
- Neonatal and Maternal Infections
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00