Copper Tolerance and Characterization of a Copper-Responsive Operon, copYAZ, in an M1T1 Clinical Strain of Streptococcus pyogenes.

Unlabelled: Infection with Streptococcus pyogenes is associated with a breadth of clinical manifestations ranging from mild pharyngitis to severe necrotizing fasciitis. Elevated levels of intracellular copper are highly toxic to this bacterium, and thus, the microbe must tightly regulate the level of this metal ion by one or more mechanisms, which have, to date, not been clearly defined. In this study, we have identified two virulence mechanisms by which S.