Anne von Gottberg

Identifying candidate genetic determinants associated with invasion in pneumococcal lineages

The paper identifies invasion-associated genetic variants in pneumococcal lineages by separating serotype and lineage effects, highlighting candidate determinants for experimental investigation.

Transmission of mutated SARS-CoV-2 variants is favored by relatively prolonged infections due to delayed immunity

The paper models how delayed immune responses and prolonged infections increase the transmission risk of SARS-CoV-2 variants with fitness-enhancing mutations.

A soluble host signal drives rapid, brain-predominant capsular thickening in Streptococcus pneumoniae via a putative sodium-dependent transporter (SPD_0642) and capsular prepromoter sequence

This paper identifies a host-derived signal that induces rapid, tissue-specific capsule thickening in Streptococcus pneumoniae, independent of phase variation, and shows two genetic determinants involved in this process.

The role of interspecies recombinations in the evolution of antibiotic resistant pneumococci

The paper reconstructs the evolutionary histories of antibiotic-resistant pneumococcal lineages PMEN3 and PMEN9, showing how interspecies recombination contributes to antibiotic resistance and serotype switching.

Joint sequencing of human and pathogen genomes reveals the genetics of pneumococcal meningitis

The paper uses genome-wide association studies to show human and pneumococcal genetic variation influences susceptibility and severity of pneumococcal meningitis.