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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 Jul 26.
Published in final edited form as: J Mol Biol. 2019 Jan 31;431(16):2914–2931. doi: 10.1016/j.jmb.2019.01.035

Figure 2. Host and bacterial factors that contribute to GBS’s status as either an asymptomatic colonizer or invasive pathogen.

Figure 2.

GBS typically colonizes the gastrointestinal/vaginal tract asymptomatically but is highly pathogenic in other host compartments. The host responses to GBS are multifaceted and can promote asymptomatic colonization and clearance or alternatively permit invasive infection and disease. Many of the bacterial factors that promote colonization are also involved in dissemination and tissue damage. GBS tightly regulates the expression of these factors using signal transduction systems, which sense and respond to variations in the external environment.