Group A Streptococcal Genotypes from Pediatric Throat Isolates in Rome, Italy

In a study assessing genetic diversity, 114 group A streptococcus (GAS) isolates were recovered from pediatric pharyngitis patients in Rome, Italy. These isolates comprised 22 different M protein gene (emm) sequence types, 14 of which were associated with a distinct serum opacity factor/fibronectin binding protein gene (sof) sequence type. Isolates with the same emm gene sequence type generally shared a highly conserved chromosomal macrorestriction profile. In three instances, isolates with dissimilar macrorestriction profiles had identical emm types; in each of these cases multilocus sequence typing revealed that isolates with the same emm type were clones having the same allelic profiles. Ninety-eight percent of the pharyngeal isolates had emm types previously found to be highly associated with mga locus gene patterns commonly found in pharyngeal GAS isolates.