canis are given in parentheses): S. dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis (ATCC 12394; 81.1%), Streptococcus pseudoporcinus (LQ940-04 T; 78.8%), S. pyogenes (BI 2536 in vitro MGAS10270; 76.5%), and Streptococcus iniae (9117; 74.4%). The likely presence of the sag operon in S. dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis see more was first shown by Humar et al. [34] who detected a functional sagA homolog in strains capable of producing SLS. S. canis and S. iniae are somewhat distinctive in that the other species are predominately human pathogens, whereas the former are predominately

animal pathogens (S. iniae is a common fish pathogen), although occasionally are associated with zoonotic disease [37–39]. S. dysgalactiae subsp. dysgalactiae, which is predominantly associated with disease in animals but not in humans, lacks an intact sag operon, possessing only sagA and sagI. The occurrence LCZ696 ic50 of the complete operon in the other close relatives of S. canis (S. dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis and S. pyogenes) suggests that S. dysgalactiae subsp. dysgalactiae may have lost the remainder of the genes from the operon. However, the occurrence of the operon in two species more distantly related to S. canis, that are themselves likely not sister species (S. pseudoporcinus

and S. iniae) [40], is suggestive in this case of lateral gene transfer of the operon. Fish handling and close association with domestic dogs may have facilitated lateral gene transfer between species occupying human and animal hosts [14, 16, 41]. Genes specific to S. canis (FSL Z3-227) To identify genes that are likely S. canis species specific from genes present in multiple species of the genus, we performed a clustering analysis among 214 Streptococcus genomes representing 41 species including S. canis (see Methods section and Additional file 3). The analysis identified 97 genes that

were not homologous to any other gene in the analysis and were unique to S. canis (see Additional file 2). Unfortunately, all were annotated as hypothetical proteins, highlighting the need for future studies ASK1 exploring functional genomics for this species. S. canis belongs to the pyogenic 16S rRNA phylogenetic group [42]. Limiting the comparison to pyogenic genomes (14 species and 40 genomes, excluding S. canis), we identified an additional 14 genes unique to the S. canis genome (see Additional file 2). Two of these genes were homologous to two established virulence factors in the VFDB. The first gene (neuraminidase C, SCAZ3_10275) was homologous with neuraminidase B (nanB) from S. pneumoniae (TIGR4). The product of nanB is a glycosidase that, by damaging surface glycans and exposing the cell surface, aids in the adhesion to host cells and is therefore likely important in host invasion [43].