Streptococcus Pneumoniae Can Cause Pneumonia, Meningitis, and Blood Infections

Multiple Choice

Streptococcus pneumoniae can cause pneumonia, meningitis, and blood infections. S. pneumoniae can change rapidly and evade the immune system. Which characteristics of S. pneumoniae facilitate this rapid evolution? Please select all that apply.

A) S. pneumoniae is naturally competent
B) Host immune systems cannot recognize the carbohydrate capsule that surrounds the bacterial cell
C) Capsule genes can be acquired by horizontal transfer
D) S. pneumoniae has a linear genome