Table 1.

Wild type and mutant strains of Streptococcus equi used in this study

Designation	Mutated genes	Description
S. equi 4047		Wild type S. equi 4047
HILM	seeH, seeI, seeL, and seeM	Lacks genes encoding four bacterial superantigens
Multi	hasA, seM, pyrC, sagA, and aroB	Lacks five genes: hasA, seM, pyrC, sagA, and aroB
ΔhasA	hasA	Lacks hasA: encoding hyaluronan synthase
ΔseM	seM	Lacks seM: encoding an antiphagocytic M‐protein
ΔpyrC	pyrC	Lacks pyrC: encoding a dihydroorotase involved in DNA biosynthesis
ΔsagA	sagA	Lacks sagA: encoding a haemolytic toxin; streptolysin S
ΔaroB	aroB	Lacks aroB: encoding a 3‐dehydroquinate synthase involved in aromatic amino acid biosynthesis
ΔrecA	recA	Lacks recA: encoding a recombinase involved in homologous recombination of DNA