Influence of RD2 on gene expression in serotype M1 and M49 GAS isolates

We used RNA-Seq to assess how the presence/absence of the RD2 pathogenicity island influences global gene expression in the parental serotype M1 GAS isolate MGAS2221 and the parental serotype M49 isolate NZ131 Overall design: The parental isolates (MGAS2221 and PGAS812 [also known as NZ131]) and derivatives containing the RD2 pathogenicity island (PGAS885 and PGAS890, respectively) were compared. Each strain was grown in triplicate in THY broth (37 degrees centigrade in 5% CO2) to the exponential phase of growth (O.D.600 of 0.5). Samples were taken and processed for RNA isolation.