Historical perspectives and identification of Neisseria and related species.

Abstract

and provides key references that will guide the reader to additional readings on this subject. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE TAXONOMY OF THE FAMILY NEISSERIACEAE Taxonomy of the Family Neisseriaceae The genus Neisseria belongs to the family Neisseriaceae (95), which has undergone many taxonomic changes (14, 15, 19, 74, 75, 80) that are summarized in Table 1. The genus Neisseria was assigned to the family Coccaceae until 1948 (74), when it was reassigned as the type genus in the family Neisseriaceae (75). The family Neisseriaceae at that time also contained the strictly anaerobic Veillonella spp. (14, 19). The family Neisseriaceae now contains the genera Neisseria, Moraxella, Acinetobacter, and Kingella (14), which are differentiated from each other by cell morphology, oxidase and catalase reactions, the presence of carbonic anhydrase, the production of acid from glucose, the ability to reduce nitrite, the presence of thymidine phosphorylase, nucleoside deoxyribosyl transferase, and thymidine kinase, and the presence of true waxes in the cell wall (14). The genus Neisseria contains species that are isolated from humans and other animals. The human species have undergone few taxonomic changes. The most notable change in the taxonomy of the family has been a result of genetic studies. These led to the reassignment of N. catarrhalis to the genus Branhamella (25) and the inclusion of B. catarrhalis as a subgenus in the genus Moraxella (14, 15). Because subgenus and subspecific epithets are not used (90), strains of B. catarrhalis should correctly be called Moraxella catarrhalis. However, because B. catarrhalis is distinctly different from the Moraxella spp. in cell morphology and has recently been recognized as a pathogen (21, 27, 68), the name B. catarrhalis is commonly used, although no formal request has been made to have the name conserved taxonomically. Branhamella catarrhalisc Moraxella lacunata M. bovis M. nonliquefacians M. phenylpyruvica M. osloensis M. kingii M. "urethralis" M. atlantae Acinetobacter calcoaceticus Kingella kingae K. indologenes K. denitrificans 5th (1939) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes h N. caviae, N. cuniculi, and N. ovis were assigned to the subgenus Branhamella (15). 'N. lactamica was first listed in the 8th edition of Bergey's Manual as N. lactamicus, a species incertae sedis, and was listed as N. lactamica in Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology in 1984 (95). J N. polysaccharea and N. gonorrhoeae subsp. kochii were described after the publication of Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology (95). N. polysaccharea was first named N. polysacchareae (82). N. kochii has characteristics of both N. gonorrhoeae and N. meningitidis. k The genus Veillonella was included in the family Neisseriaceae until 1974 (80), when it was assigned as the type genus in the family Veillonaceae.

Natural transformation and phase variation modulation in Neisseria meningitidis

“…A basic requirement for this type of DNA transfer to occur in vivo is the co-colonization of the nasopharynx with different neisserial strains, serogroups and commensals. Although it has not been a standard clinical procedure to culture additional neisserial species and strains when isolating N. meningitidis, when it is attempted, genetically distinct Neisseria can be isolated from an individual (Schoenbach and Phair, 1948;Knapp, 1988;Knapp and Hook, 1988;. Thus, there is evidence of cocolonization of the human nasopharynx by more than one neisserial species or strain (Schoenbach et al, 1948;Knapp, 1988;Knapp and Hook, 1988;, in vivo horizontal exchange among Neisseria (Seifert et al, 1988;Spratt et al, 1992;Bowler et al, 1994;Swartley et al, 1997;Zhou et al, 1997;Linz et al, 2000;Qvarnstrom and Swedberg, 2002), and increased phase variation frequencies in the presence of heterologous neisserial DNA (this study).…”

“…This observation led us to consider the role of heterologous DNA in phase variation during neisserial colonization. Therefore, we measured hmbR switching frequencies in IR3261 in the presence of DNA from other nasopharyngeal colonizers (Knapp, 1988;Knapp and Hook, 1988;St Sauver et al ., 2000). All heterologous neisserial DNAs tested increased meningococcal phase variation (Fig.…”

“…To determine that the increased phase variation frequencies were the result of the DNA in the preparations rather than contaminating proteins or other unknown factor(s), DNA from the frequent co-colonizer of the nasopharynx, N. cinerea (Knapp, 1988;, was treated with either DNase I or proteinase K and subsequently incubated with recipient cells. Treatment of the added DNA with DNase I abolished the observed increase in hmbR phase variation frequency whereas treatment with proteinase K did not (data not shown).…”

“…This process is the primary mode of DNA exchange in Neisseria (Sparling, 1966) and has been implicated in the acquisition of sodC from Haemophilus influenzae (Kroll et al ., 1998), alteration of penA resulting in penicillin resistance , pilin antigenic variation (Seifert et al ., 1988), evolution of argF , and capsule switching (Swartley et al ., 1997), among other genetic alterations. As a result of its niche in the human nasopharynx, N. meningitidis is exposed to a variety of microorganisms including commensal neisserial species such as Neisseria mucosa and Neisseria cinerea which may contribute to such genetic exchange (Knapp, 1988;Knapp and Hook, 1988;Spratt et al ., 1992;Zhou et al ., 1992;Bowler et al ., 1994;Zhou et al ., 1997;Kroll et al ., 1998;Linz et al ., 2000;Davis et al ., 2001).…”

Sigma factor RpoN (σ54) regulates pilE transcription in commensal Neisseria elongata

“…Human-adapted Neisseria consists of two pathogenic and at least 13 commensal species (Knapp, 1988;Han et al, 2006;Wolfgang et al, 2011;2013). A phylogenetic tree constructed from genome sequence comparisons reveals pathogens Neisseria gonorrhoeae (Ngo) and Neisseria meningitidis (Nme) evolved from the commensals (Marri et al, 2010).…”