The distribution of serogroups and multilocus sequence types (STs) in collections of disease-associated and carried meningococci from the period 1991 to 2000 in three European countries (the Czech Republic, Greece, and Norway) was investigated. A total of 314 patient isolates and 353 isolates from asymptomatic carriers were characterized. The frequency distributions of serogroups and clone complexes differed among countries and between disease and carrier isolate collections. Highly significant differentiation was seen at each housekeeping locus. A marked positive association of serogroup C with disease was evidenced. The ST-11 complex was strongly positively associated with disease; associations for other clone complexes were weaker. The genetic diversity of the clone complexes differed. A single ST dominated the ST-11 clone complex, while the ST-41/44 complex exhibited greater levels of diversity. These data robustly demonstrated differences in the distribution of meningococcal genotypes in disease and carrier isolates and among countries. Further, they indicated that differences in genotype diversity and pathogenicity exist between meningococcal clone complexes.

• MeSH
• genetická variace MeSH
• genotyp MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• meningokokové infekce epidemiologie   mikrobiologie   MeSH
• Neisseria meningitidis klasifikace   genetika   izolace a purifikace   patogenita   MeSH
• přenašečství epidemiologie   mikrobiologie   MeSH
• sérotypizace MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika epidemiologie   MeSH
• Norsko epidemiologie   MeSH
• Řecko epidemiologie   MeSH

The Neisseria meningitidis FAM20 strain secretes two proteins of unknown function, FrpA and FrpC, which contain typical RTX domains found in cytotoxins from other gram-negative pathogens. To evaluate whether the Frp proteins could be involved in meningococcal virulence, 65 isolates of all serogroups were screened by PCR for the presence of both frp genes. The frpA allele was, however, poorly conserved. A single strain harbored an frpA allele of the previously described size, while large insertions were detected in the frpA loci of 22 isolates (34%), and the 42 remaining isolates (65%) did not contain frpA at all. In contrast, frpC alleles, albeit of variable length, were detected in all invasive and most carrier strains. This suggests that meningococci may produce a family of FrpC proteins of various molecular masses. High levels of both immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgA class antibodies recognizing recombinant FrpC were indeed detected in convalescent-phase sera of most patients at 2 and 4 to 5 weeks after the first symptoms of meningococcal disease. These results show that FrpC-like proteins are produced and may play a role in invasive meningococcal infections.

• MeSH
• alely MeSH
• bakteriální proteiny genetika   imunologie   izolace a purifikace   metabolismus   MeSH
• cytotoxiny * MeSH
• klonování DNA MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• membránové proteiny * MeSH
• meningokokové infekce imunologie   mikrobiologie   MeSH
• molekulární sekvence - údaje MeSH
• Neisseria meningitidis imunologie   metabolismus   MeSH
• periplazmatické vazebné proteiny MeSH
• polymorfismus genetický genetika   MeSH
• proteiny vázající železo MeSH
• proteiny vnější bakteriální membrány MeSH
• protilátky bakteriální krev   MeSH
• rekombinantní proteiny genetika   izolace a purifikace   metabolismus   MeSH
• sekvence aminokyselin MeSH
• sekvenční analýza DNA MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Názvy látek
• bakteriální proteiny MeSH
• cytotoxiny * MeSH
• frpC protein, Neisseria meningitidis MeSH Prohlížeč
• membránové proteiny * MeSH
• periplazmatické vazebné proteiny MeSH
• proteiny vázající železo MeSH
• proteiny vnější bakteriální membrány MeSH
• protilátky bakteriální MeSH
• rekombinantní proteiny MeSH

Population and evolutionary analyses of pathogenic bacteria are frequently hindered by sampling strategies that concentrate on isolates from patients with invasive disease. This is especially so for the gram-negative diplococcus Neisseria meningitidis, a cause of septicemia and meningitis worldwide. Meningococcal isolate collections almost exclusively comprise organisms originating from patients with invasive meningococcal disease, although this bacterium is a commensal inhabitant of the human nasopharynx and very rarely causes pathological effects. In the present study, molecular biology-based techniques were used to establish the genetic relationships of 156 meningococci isolated from healthy young adults in the Czech Republic during 1993. None of the individuals sampled had known links to patients with invasive disease. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) showed that the bacterial population was highly diverse, comprising 71 different sequence types (STs) which were assigned to 34 distinct complexes or lineages. Three previously identified hyperinvasive lineages were present: 26 isolates (17%) belonged to the ST-41 complex (lineage 3); 4 (2.6%) belonged to the ST-11 (electrophoretic type [ET-37]) complex, and 1 (0.6%) belonged to the ST-32 (ET-5) complex. The data were consistent with the view that most nucleotide sequence diversity resulted from the reassortment of alleles by horizontal genetic exchange.

• MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladiství MeSH
• Neisseria meningitidis klasifikace   genetika   MeSH
• přenašečství mikrobiologie   MeSH
• sérotypizace MeSH
• Check Tag
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladiství MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika MeSH