title: Separation of Neisseria meningitidis competence variants by sucrose gradient centrifugation.
abstract: Transformable (cp+) and non transformable (cp-) variants of the Neisseria meningitidis Strain M1 could be separated on the basis of their sedimentation velocity in sucrose gradients. The cp+ cells sedimented slightly more slowly than the cp- ones. This supports previous observations that the change from cp+ to cp- is followed by alterations in cell structures. In cp+ populations, the transformable fraction banded with the bulk of the cells in sucrose gradients, indicating that the density of the phenotypically competent cell is identical to the rest of the cp+ population.
mesh_terms: D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D002499:Centrifugation, Density Gradient; D004247:DNA; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D013395:Sucrose; D014170:Transformation, Genetic
chemical_list: D013395:Sucrose; D004247:DNA