As shown in Fig 4A, the adhesion rates of ΔsssP1 and SssP1T182A to HBMECs were decreased by nearly 90% compared with the wild-type strain (P < 0.0001), indicating that SssP1 has a strongly adhesive ability to HBMECs, which may enhance the virulence to cause meningitis. This evidence concerns the gene C5orf46 and infectious meningitis.