A highly conserved region present in transcripts encoding heterologous M proteins of group A streptococci

Abstract

In group A streptococcal strains of 10 different serotypes, the sequence previously identified as homologous to the structural gene for type 6 M protein (emm6) was found to be transcribed. The conserved consequence, which shows greater than 95% homology among heterologous M proteins, was identified as the 3' third of the gene.