title: Large-scale analysis of the meningococcus genome by gene disruption: resistance to complement-mediated lysis.
abstract: The biologic role of a majority of the Neisseria meningitidis 2100 predicted coding regions is still to be assigned or experimentally confirmed. Determining the phenotypic effect of gene disruption being a fundamental approach to understanding gene function, we used high-density signature-tagged transposon mutagenesis, followed by a large-scale sequencing of the transposon insertion sites, to construct a genome-wide collection of mutants. The sequencing results for the first half of the 4548 mutants composing the library suggested that we have mutations in 80%-90% of N. meningitidis nonessential genes. This was confirmed by a whole-genome identification of the genes required for resistance to complement-mediated lysis, a key to meningococcal virulence. We show that all the genes we identified, including four previously uncharacterized, were important for the synthesis of the polysialic acid capsule or the lipooligosaccharide (LOS), suggesting that these are likely to be the only meningococcal attributes necessary for serum resistance. Our work provides a valuable and lasting resource that may lead to a global map of gene function in N. meningitidis.
authors.affiliation: INSERM U570, Faculté de Médecine Necker-Enfants Malades, 75015 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Marie-Claude
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Geoffroy
authors.forename: Stéphanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Floquet
authors.forename: Arnaud
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Métais
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Nassif
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pelicic
mesh_terms: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D016667:Bacterial Capsules / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D001769:Blood / Q000276:immunology; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial / Q000379:methods; D015938:Complement Membrane Attack Complex / Q000276:immunology*; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements / Q000235:genetics; D018390:Gene Targeting / Q000379:methods*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional / Q000379:methods; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology*; D016366:Open Reading Frames / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D015938:Complement Membrane Attack Complex; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements