Genetic relationships amongNeisseria gonorrhoeaeserovars analysed by multilocus enzyme electrophoresis

Abstract

SUMMARYMultilocus enzyme electrophoretic analysis was employed to assess the genetic relatedness of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Based on the diversity of electromorphs at 9 enzyme loci, 16 electrophoretic types (ETs) were established amongst the 65 isolates. The average number of alleles per enzyme locus was 1-7 and the mean genetic diversity per locus was 0-212. The majority of isolates belonged to either ETI (32-3%) or ET2 (16-9%). No specific correlation of ETs was seen with serovars as the major types, ETs 1 and 2, were found distributed amongst the various serovars. Major serovars such as Bacjk (I B-1/2) and Bajk (I B-3/6) were each represented by 6 or 8 ETs respectively. Analysis of the genetic relationships of ETs to each other showed some clustering of subgroups that were more closely related than others.

Review and International Recommendation of Methods for Typing Neisseria gonorrhoeae Isolates and Their Implications for Improved Knowledge of Gonococcal Epidemiology, Treatment, and Biology

“…Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) was first developed and implemented for differentiating Neisseria meningitidis isolates (89) as a general approach for molecular epidemiology and genetic analysis of strain populations. The method is a molecular extension of multilocus enzyme electrophoresis (MLEE) (28,29,61,110,134,143), in which electrophoretic mobilities of housekeeping enzymes are analyzed on starch gels. In MLST, the DNA sequences of internal fragments of the alleles of seven or more chromosomal housekeeping genes, which are relatively conserved, slowly evolving, evolutionarily more neutral, and, ideally, distributed throughout the genome, are analyzed.…”

“…Notably, MLEE (the "ancestor" of MLST) indexes allelic variation in multiple chromosomally encoded housekeeping enzymes (28,29,61,110,134,143). This method measures relatedness between strains and identifies clonality.…”

Methods for typing std pathogens (N. Gonorrhoeae, C. Trachomatis, T. Pallidum)

“…Для типирования гонококков был также предложен метод мультилокусного электрофореза ферментов (multilocus enzyme electrophoresis, MLEE) [13,63]. Главным недостатком этого метода, как и других электрофоретических методик, считается трудность сравнения результатов, полученных в разных лабораториях.…”