Acute bacterial conjunctivitis is usually caused by the pneumococcus or Haemophilus influenzae, but other organisms are sometimes involved and it is important to identify these exactly. Among the less common pathogens are the neisseria, and both Neisseria gonorrhoeae and N meningitidis have been implicated in ophthalmic infections. N gonorrhoeae is particularly associated with severe destructiv...

Acute bacterial conjunctivitis is usually caused by the pneumococcus or Haemophilus influenzae, but other organisms are sometimes involved and it is important to identify these exactly. Among the less common pathogens are the neisseria, and both Neisseria gonorrhoeae and N meningitidis have been implicated in ophthalmic infections. N gonorrhoeae is particularly associated with severe destructiv...

Nitric oxide (NO) contributes to mammalian host defense by direct microbicidal activity and as a signaling molecule of innate immune responses. Macrophages produce NO via the inducible NO synthase (iNOS). The genome of Neisseria meningitidis includes two genes, norB (encoding nitric oxide reductase) and cycP (encoding cytochrome c'), both of which detoxify NO in pure cultures of N. meningitidis...

The biochemical and serological characteristics of lactose-utilizing strains of Neisseria were determined. These organisms were found in the nasopharynx of man and grew well on Thayer-Martin Selective Medium. They were compared with N. meningitidis to ascertain whether they were variants of this species. Differences between the lactose-using strains and the recognized species of Neisseria were ...

Neisseria meningitidis is a major causative agent of bacterial meningitis in human beings, especially among young children (</=2 years of age). Prevention of group B meningococcal disease represents a particularly difficult challenge in vaccine development, due to the inadequate immune response elicited against type B capsular polysaccharide. We have established an adult mouse intranasal challe...

Non-beta-lactamase-producing, penicillin-resistant strains of Neisseria meningitidis produce altered forms of penicillin-binding protein 2 that have decreased affinity for penicillin. The sequence of the penicillin-binding protein 2 gene (penA) from a penicillin-resistant strain of N. meningitidis was compared to the sequence of the same gene from penicillin-sensitive strains and from penicilli...

BACKGROUND This study aimed the use of mesoporous silica under the naturally transformable Neisseria meningitidis, an important pathogen implicated in the genetic horizontal transfer of DNA causing a escape of the principal vaccination measures worldwide by the capsular switching process. This study verified the effects of mesoporous silica under N. meningitidis transformation specifically unde...

Translation elongation factor P (EF-P), a ubiquitous protein over the entire range of bacterial species, rescues ribosomal stalling at consecutive prolines in proteins. In Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica, the post-translational β-lysyl modification of Lys34 of EF-P is important for the EF-P activity. The β-lysyl EF-P modification pathway is conserved among only 26-28% of bacteria. Rece...

Neisseria meningitidis causes fulminant meningitis and sepsis. Worldwide, N. meningitidis serogroup A is responsible for large epidemic outbreaks (e.g., subSaharan Africa) and serogroups B, C, Y and W-135 cause epidemic and endemic disease. Meningococci are usually transmitted from person to person through close contact with contaminated aerosols and secretions from the human nasopharynx. Labor...

Members of the Neisseria genus typically display the ability to carry out denitrification of nitrite to nitrous oxide as an alternative to oxygen respiration when oxygen is depleted. The key enzymes nitrite and nitric oxide reductase are found across the Neisseria genus. Within Neisseria meningitidis, however, a number of research groups have found that a significant proportion of strains lack ...