Pathogenic Neisseriae: Gonorrhea, Neonatal Ophthalmia and Meningococcal Meningitis

Gonococcal, but Not Meningococcal, Porin Pathogenic Neisseriae is Influenced by Factor H Binding and Function in Sialylated

Neonatal meningococcal conjunctivitis associated with meningococcal meningitis.

Two infants are described in whom identical strains of meningococcus were isolated from both the eyes and the cerebrospinal fluid. This suggests that the eye may be a portal of entry in at least some cases of perinatally acquired neonatal meningococcal disease and has important implications for the management of purulent conjunctivitis in the newborn.

Factor H binding and function in sialylated pathogenic neisseriae is influenced by gonococcal, but not meningococcal, porin.

Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Neisseria meningitidis both express the lacto-N-neotetraose (LNT) lipooligosaccharide (LOS) molecule that can be sialylated. Although gonococcal LNT LOS sialylation enhances binding of the alternative pathway complement inhibitor factor H and renders otherwise serum-sensitive bacteria resistant to complement-dependent killing, the role of LOS sialylation in meningococc...

Conservation of Meningococcal Antigens in the Genus Neisseria

Neisseria meningitidis, one of the major causes of bacterial meningitis and sepsis, is a member of the genus Neisseria, which includes species that colonize the mucosae of many animals. Three meningococcal proteins, factor H-binding protein (fHbp), neisserial heparin-binding antigen (NHBA), and N. meningitidis adhesin A (NadA), have been described as antigens protective against N. meningitidis ...

Plasmid diversity in neisseriae.

Horizontal gene transfer constitutes an important force in prokaryotic genome evolution, and it is well-known that plasmids are vehicles for DNA transfer. Chromosomal DNA is frequently exchanged between pathogenic and commensal neisseriae, but relatively little is known about plasmid diversity and prevalence among these nasopharyngeal inhabitants. We investigated the plasmid contents of 18 Neis...