title: Reliability of the detection of meningococcal gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase as an identification marker for Neisseria meningitidis.
abstract: Detection of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT; ggt ) activity is one of the useful methods for a specific identification of Neisseria meningitidis. However, we previously happened to isolate a ggt -deficient N. meningitidis strain (NIID113) from a healthy carrier. In this study, in order to re-examine the reliability of the marker, we again investigated the GGT activity of 245 N. meningitidis human isolates and identified two other GGT-defective N. meningitidis isolates besides NIID113. The isolation frequency (1.2%) of ggt mutants among human isolates strongly confirmed the 98.8% reliability of GGT activity as the identification marker for N. meningitidis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacteriology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Toshiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kuroki
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Surang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dejsirilert
authors.forename: Leelaowadee
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Saengsuk
authors.forename: Shiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamai
authors.forename: Haruo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Watanabe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002353:Carrier State / Q000382:microbiology*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008589:Meningococcal Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013045:Species Specificity; D013785:Thailand; D005723:gamma-Glutamyltransferase / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D005723:gamma-Glutamyltransferase