Evolution__transmission_and_antimicrobial_resistance_of_pathogenic_Group_B_streptococci

Streptococcus agalactiae (or Group B streptococcus, GBS) is a notorious cause of meningitis and sepsis in infants, and is increasingly recognised as a cause of sepsis in non-pregnant adults, in particular the immunocompromised and elderly. Though GBS is asymptomatically carried in the gut and, urogenital tract of 10-30% of healthy people, in recent years the number of invasive GBS disease cases in neonates and adults has risen. This project aims to understand the evolution of GBS to identify the potential host, microbe, and environmental reasons that led to its success as a human pathogen, e.g., survival in the human enteric flora, or increase in virulence and transmissibility.