Evolution of mobile genetic elements in Streptococcus pyogenes

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This NSERC Discovery grant application is designed to understand the role of viruses in the evolution of Streptococcus pyogenes. Many bacterial species can be infected with viruses called bacteriophages, and these bacteriophages will often integrate themselves into the genetic makeup of the bacterium. Streptococcus pyogenes is a bacterium that is only found in association with humans and approximately 10% of DNA from Streptococcus pyogenes comes from bacteriophages. It has been widely hypothesized that the bacteriophage elements are important factors in the evolution of Streptococcus pyogenes, yet this has never been tested. Using a series of genetic experiments to alter the bacteriophage elements, this application will determine under what conditions the bacteriophage may transfer between strains, and tease out the role that these bacteriophage elements play in the ability of Streptococcus pyogenes to colonize.