title: Allelic polymorphism and site-specific recombination in the opc locus of Neisseria meningitidis.
abstract: The opc gene is widespread in epidemic and endemic Neisseria meningitidis, but most strains of certain epidemic clones (ET-37 complex, Cluster A4) and a few random endemic isolates lack an opc gene. Four percent of the 1148 bp that contain opc plus the surrounding intergenic region was polymorphic (18 alleles), and many of the alleles contained a 230 bp insertion at a fixed location in the intergenic region. The presence or absence of the insertion reflects site-specific recombination. The alleles are stably inherited within clonal groupings for up to at least 50 years, with rare cases of horizontal genetic exchange. Most statistical methods indicated significant intragenic recombination events within this dataset.
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck Institut fur Molekulare Genetik, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Seiler
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Reinhardt
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sarkari
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Caugant
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Achtman
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D008589:Meningococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals / Q000235:genetics; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D012703:Serotyping; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals; C074517:opc protein, bacteria