Molecular epidemiology of meningococci: Application of DNA sequence typing

Vogel, Ulrich

doi:10.1016/j.ijmm.2010.04.017

Cited by 9 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 73 publications

(69 reference statements)

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“…Only six serogroups (A, B, C, W-135, X, Y) cause life-threatening disease. Serogroup identification is done by slide agglutination or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays, while other meningococcal typing is performed using monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), PCR, and DNA sequencing (81). …”

Section: Microbiology Of the Meningococcusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neisseria meningitidis: Biology, Microbiology, and Epidemiology

Rouphael

Stephens

2011

Methods in Molecular Biology

315

294

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Neisseria meningitidis (the meningococcus) causes significant morbidity and mortality in children and young adults worldwide through epidemic or sporadic meningitis and/or septicemia. In this review, we describe the biology, microbiology, and epidemiology of this exclusive human pathogen. N. meningitidis is a fastidious, encapsulated, aerobic gram-negative diplococcus. Colonies are positive by the oxidase test and most strains utilize maltose. The phenotypic classification of meningococci, based on structural differences in capsular polysaccharide, lipooligosaccharide (LOS) and outer membrane proteins, is now complemented by genome sequence typing (ST). The epidemiological profile of N. meningitidis is variable in different populations and over time and virulence of the meningococcus is based on a transformable/plastic genome and expression of certain capsular polysaccharides (serogroups A, B, C, W-135, Y and X) and non-capsular antigens. N. meningitidis colonizes mucosal surfaces using a multifactorial process involving pili, twitching motility, LOS, opacity associated, and other surface proteins. Certain clonal groups have an increased capacity to gain access to the blood, evade innate immune responses, multiply, and cause systemic disease. Although new vaccines hold great promise, meningococcal infection continues to be reported in both developed and developing countries, where universal vaccine coverage is absent and antibiotic resistance increasingly more common.

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Section: Microbiology Of the Meningococcusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neisseria meningitidis: Biology, Microbiology, and Epidemiology

Rouphael

Stephens

2011

Methods in Molecular Biology

315

294

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“…Intensive networking in Europe achieved two major goals: (i) European reference laboratories agreed on a consensus for typing which besides the capsular serogroup includes antigen sequence typing of PorA and FetA, as well as multilocus sequence typing (MLST) Vogel, 2010). The combination of serogroup determination by slide agglutination or PCR with PorAand FetA-variable region typing achieves a sufficient discrimination (index of discriminatory ability of 0.963 in our exemplary study) to e.g.…”

Section: Typing Schemes and Databasesmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…E-mail address: uvogel@hygiene.uni-wuerzburg.de sequencing for typing beyond the serogroup analysis of the capsule antigen by slide agglutination and PCR Vogel, 2010). It is at least partially due to effective networking throughout Europe that DNA sequence typing schemes were developed and distributed, that internationally recognized databases were implemented, and -equally important -fed with data from many countries to provide an encyclopaedic resource for typing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

European efforts to harmonize typing of meningococci

Vogel

2011

International Journal of Medical Microbiology

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“…Countries of the African ‘meningitis belt’ have for over 100 years experienced large meningococcal meningitis epidemics [2–4]. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) of carriage and disease isolates has shown that between the late 1980s and 2010, epidemic waves of colonization and disease were mainly associated with hypervirulent serogroup A clones with the sequence types (ST) 5, 7, and 2859 [5–8]. The ST-5 clone spread in the meningitis belt after an epidemic in Mecca in 1987.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spontaneous point mutations in the capsule synthesis locus leading to structural and functional changes of the capsule in serogroup A meningococcal populations

Ispasanie

Micoli²,

Lamelas

et al. 2018

Virulence

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Whole genome sequencing analysis of 100 Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A isolates has revealed that the csaABCD-ctrABCD-ctrEF capsule polysaccharide synthesis locus represents a spontaneous point mutation hotspot. Structural and functional properties of the capsule of 11 carriage and two disease isolates with non-synonymous point mutations or stop codons in capsule synthesis genes were analyzed for their capsular polysaccharide expression, recognition by antibodies and sensitivity to bactericidal killing. Eight of eleven carriage isolates presenting capsule locus mutations expressed no or reduced amounts of capsule. One isolate with a stop codon in the O-acetyltransferase gene expressed non-O-acetylated polysaccharide, and was not recognized by anti-capsule antibodies. Capsule and O-acetylation deficient mutants were resistant to complement deposition and killing mediated by anti-capsular antibodies, but not by anti-lipopolysaccharide antibodies. Two capsule polymerase mutants, one carriage and one case isolate, showed capsule over-expression and increased resistance against bactericidal activity of both capsule- and lipopolysaccharide-specific antibodies. Meningococci have developed multiple strategies for changing capsule expression and structure, which is relevant both for colonization and virulence. Here we show that point mutations in the capsule synthesis genes substantially contribute to the repertoire of genetic mechanisms in natural populations leading to variability in capsule expression.

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Molecular epidemiology of meningococci: Application of DNA sequence typing

Cited by 9 publications

References 73 publications

Neisseria meningitidis: Biology, Microbiology, and Epidemiology

Neisseria meningitidis: Biology, Microbiology, and Epidemiology

European efforts to harmonize typing of meningococci

Spontaneous point mutations in the capsule synthesis locus leading to structural and functional changes of the capsule in serogroup A meningococcal populations

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