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March 2, 2026
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Engineering bright and genetically stable fluorescent Streptococcus suis strains for functional in vitro and in vivo applications

Publicated to: VETERINARY MICROBIOLOGY. 316 110964- - 2026-03-02, DOI: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2026.110964

Authors:

Saralegui, L., García, C., Jurado, P., Bosch, C., van Setten, M., Wessel, V., Bermúdez, R., Marín, C., & Arenas, J.
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Abstract

Streptococcus suis is a major cause of streptococcal infections in pigs and an emerging zoonotic pathogen, resulting in substantial economic losses in the swine production industry. The limited efficacy of current vaccine strategies and the rise in antimicrobial resistance have intensified efforts to investigate the biology and pathogenesis of the microorganism as a basis for developing alternative control strategies. In this work, we engineered a genetically stable S. suis strain producing a superfolder green fluorescent protein that may serve to study this pathogen in a variety of in vitro and in vivo assays. Multiple S. suis strains from different genetic backgrounds were successfully transformed, exhibiting strong and stable fluorescence without compromising bacterial growth. Fluorescence intensity remained consistent over 15 serial passages in culture without the need for antibiotic selection, supporting its suitability for long-term experiments. The fluorescent strains were nicely distinguishable by fluorescence microscopy and enabled the detailed study of various biological aspects, including biofilm formation, interactions with eukaryotic cells, and differential growth. In murine infection models, the engineered strains caused streptococcal disease, unlike unencapsulated mutant derivatives, and were detected in internal organs via fluorescence microscopy. Altogether, this work provides a valuable tool for advancing research into S. suis.
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Keywords

Biofilmes (microbiología)CerdoEnfermedades bacterianasInfeccionOrganismos patógenosStreptococcus suis

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal VETERINARY MICROBIOLOGY due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2026, it was in position 24/171, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Veterinary Sciences.

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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-11-15:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 3.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 3 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 1.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 1 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

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Awards linked to the item

This work was supported by the Ciencia e Innovación/Agencia Española de Investigación MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and, as appropriate, by ERDF A way of making Europe by the European Union or by the European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR (Grant agreement PID2023–146823OB-I00), and fSs (Grant agreement 1600001704) funded by WBVR to Jesús Arenas. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
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