Streptococcus suis Type 2 SSU0587 Protein is a Beta-Galactosidase That Contributes to Bacterial Adhesion but Not to Virulence in Mice

Bacterial surface proteins play key roles in virulence and often contribute to bacterial adhesion and invasion. We discovered that the Streptococcus suis type 2 (SS2) gene SSU0587 encodes a protein of 1,491 amino acids that possesses β-galactosidase activity. The surface association of the protein was dependent upon sortase activity. Deleting SSU0587 from clinical SS2 isolate JX081101 caused a loss of both β-galactosidase activity and adherence to microvascular endothelial cells. Deleting SSU0587 had no measurable impact on either invasion of microvascular endothelial cells or on virulence in a murine infection model, although the concentration of JX081101ΔSSU0587 was reduced in the brains of infected mice, as compared with the pathogen loads of the wild-type strain.