title: Many carried meningococci lack the genes required for capsule synthesis and transport.
abstract: Of 830 Neisseria meningitidis isolates obtained from healthy carriers in Bavaria, Germany, 136 (16.4%) lacked the operons necessary for the synthesis, lipid modification, and transport of capsular polysaccharide. These operons were replaced by a non-coding intergenic region either 113 or 114 bp in length, termed here the capsule null locus (cnl). Comparisons of the nucleotide sequence of this region in the meningococcus and its acapsulate relatives, Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Neisseria lactamica, revealed six distinct sequence variants (cnl-1 to cnl-6), with a total of 10 nucleotide substitutions and three indels. With the exception of one 4 bp insertion, which was unique to a gonococcal isolate, all of the individual sequence changes were present in the N. lactamica isolates examined. The meningococcal isolates with a cnl belonged to one of four otherwise genetically diverse genetic groupings: the ST-53 and ST-1117 complexes (75 isolates); the ST-845 complex (12 isolates); the ST-198 and 1136 complexes (46 isolates), and the ST-44 complex (one isolate). These data demonstrated that a substantial proportion of carried meningococci were incapable of capsule production, that the cnl circulated within Neisseria populations by horizontal genetic exchange, and that the expression of a polysaccharide capsule was not a requirement for person-to-person transmission of certain meningococcal lineages.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Hygiene and Microbiology, University of Würzburg, Josef-Schneider-Straße 2, 97080 Würzburg, Germany1.
authors.forename: Heike
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Claus
authors.affiliation: The Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3SY, UK2.
authors.forename: Martin C J
authors.initials: MCJ
authors.lastname: Maiden
authors.affiliation: Institute for Hygiene and Microbiology, University of Würzburg, Josef-Schneider-Straße 2, 97080 Würzburg, Germany1.
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Maag
authors.affiliation: Institute for Hygiene and Microbiology, University of Würzburg, Josef-Schneider-Straße 2, 97080 Würzburg, Germany1.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Frosch
authors.affiliation: Institute for Hygiene and Microbiology, University of Würzburg, Josef-Schneider-Straße 2, 97080 Würzburg, Germany1.
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Vogel
mesh_terms: D016667:Bacterial Capsules / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D001483:Base Sequence; D002353:Carrier State / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000635:transmission; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008589:Meningococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000635:transmission; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family / Q000235:genetics; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012703:Serotyping