Relationship of serogroups of Neisseria meningitidis. II. R variants of Neisseria meningitidis.
Meningococci isolated in primary cultures from nasopharyngeal carriers occasionally consisted of mixtures of smooth (S) and rough (R) strains. The R strains were separated from the S strains and their morphological and serological characteristics were studied. Some of these R strains reverted spontaneously to S strains which subsequently produced group-specific polysaccharide. Several R strains, grown in the presence of deoxyribonucleic acid from either an R strain of known parentage or an S strain, formed recombinants with serological group specificity.
D000372:Agglutination Tests; D000818:Animals; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005827:Genetics, Microbial; D051379:Mice; D009154:Mutation; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000032:analysis; D011817:Rabbits / Q000276:immunology; D012703:Serotyping; D014170:Transformation, Genetic; D014774:Virulence
D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D011134:Polysaccharides