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Reposted by Sam Manna

bioRxiv Microbiology @biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

Nasopharyngeal colonisation by Streptococcus pneumoniae enhances host anti-viral responses to respiratory virus infection www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20…

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Sam Manna @sammanna.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

Great to see this finally out there!

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Sam Manna @sammanna.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

Really great to be a part of this awesome resource!

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Reposted by Sam Manna

bioRxivpreprint @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

SeroBA(v2.0) and SeroBAnk: a robust genome-based serotyping scheme and comprehensive atlas of capsular diversity in Streptococcus pneumoniae www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/202…

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Sam Manna @sammanna.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

They have different mutations and are different genetic lineages so definitely independent events

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Sam Manna @sammanna.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

Together, we provide the requisite genetic, serological and biochemical evidence to support 33G-like be designated as a new serotype, which we have named 33H. So far, we have seen this new serotype in Mongolia and South Africa - very excited to see where else it might be!

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Sam Manna @sammanna.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

Lastly, to confirm the lack of acetylation in the 33G-like capsule due to the loss of wciG, we conducted 1H NMR on the capsular polysaccharide, which showed that in contrast with 33G capsule, the 33G-like capsule lacks any acetyl residues.

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Sam Manna @sammanna.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

To verify that inactivation of wciG was responsible for the change in the quellung result, we constructed an 'artificial 33G-like' by deleting wciG in a 33G strain. Indeed, this changed the quellung result from 10B and 33B to 10B and 33F.

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Sam Manna @sammanna.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

We also conducted deep-sequencing and PCR from the nasopharyngeal swabs themselves to confirm the presence of the mutations in vivo (suggesting they were unlikely to have occurred during laboratory culture)

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Sam Manna @sammanna.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

When we examined the capsule locus, the 33G-like capsule locus was identical to that of 33G except for one difference - all the 33G-like isolates had frameshift mutations in a capsule gene called wciG, which encodes an acetyltransferase.

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Sam Manna @sammanna.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

During our pneumonia surveillance program in adults in Mongolia, we isolated pneumococcal variants in nasopharyngeal swabs that resembled serotype 33G. Where 33G yields the serotype result of 10B and 33B by quellung, these variants (which we called 33G-like) would give the result of 10B and 33F.

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Sam Manna @sammanna.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

Very excited to unveil the latest serotype to join the #pneumococcus family - introducing you to serotype 33H (see thread below for summary) pneumonia.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

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Sam Manna @sammanna.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

Interested in a PhD focusing on Streptococcus pneumoniae or pyogenes? Our group is looking for new PhD students to join our lab! Apply here: career10.successfactors.com/sfcareer/job...

career10.successfactors.com

Career Opportunities: PhD Student - Microbiology (42694)

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