Basic Info

Global Pneumococcal Sequence Cluster (GPSC) is an international genomic definition of a pneumococcal lineage defined using the clustering software PopPUNK

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The Global Pneumococcal Sequencing (GPS) project was established to utilize whole genome sequencing to create a global picture of pneumococcal evolution in response to the introduction of vaccines. By the end of 2019, the GPS project had sequenced over 26,000 pneumococcal isolates from more than 50 countries, representing a global collaboration of almost 100 scientists from around the world. 

GPS sequence data confirmed that after the introduction of vaccines, pneumococci with vaccine serotypes were replaced by those with non-vaccine serotypes. Pneumococcal strains could be defined at high-resolution by taking genome-wide DNA variations into account. This robust typing method is coupled with a coherent and dynamic naming system known as global pneumococcal sequence clusters (GPSCs). GPSCs enable collaborations in the tracking of pneumococcal lineages across geographical regions and over time.Using GPSCs, we can capture all variations across the entire pneumococcal genome, allowing us to monitor and understand the processes involved in vaccine escape.

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Additional Information

Related links:

https://www.pneumogen.net/gps/#/

Literature

Lees JA, Harris SR, Tonkin-Hill G, et al. Fast and flexible bacterial genomic epidemiology with PopPUNK. Genome Res. 2019;29(2):304-316. doi:10.1101/gr.241455.118

Subramanian K, Henriques-Normark B, Normark S. Emerging concepts in the pathogenesis of the Streptococcus pneumoniae: From nasopharyngeal colonizer to intracellular pathogen. Cell Microbiol. 2019;21(11):e13077. doi:10.1111/cmi.13077

Lo SW, Gladstone RA, van Tonder AJ, et al. Pneumococcal lineages associated with serotype replacement and antibiotic resistance in childhood invasive pneumococcal disease in the post-PCV13 era: an international whole-genome sequencing study. Lancet Infect Dis. 2019;19(7):759-769. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(19)30297-X