The blp locus of Streptococcus pneumoniae plays a limited role in the selection of strains that can cocolonize the human nasopharynx

Nasopharyngeal colonization is important for Streptococcus pneumoniaeevolution, providing the opportunity for horizontal gene transfer when multiple strains co-occur. Although colonization with more than one strain of pneumococcus is common, the factors that influence the ability of strains to coexist are not known. A highly variable blp (bacteriocin-like peptide) locus has been identified in all sequenced strains of S. pneumoniae. […]
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