Identification of Neisseria meningitidis genetic loci involved in the modulation of phase variation frequencies.
It has been proposed that increased phase variation frequencies in Neisseria meningitidis augment transmissibility and invasiveness. A Himar1 mariner transposon mutant library was constructed in serogroup A N. meningitidis and screened for clones with increased phase variation frequencies. Insertions increasing the frequency of slippage events within mononucleotide repeat tracts were identified in three known phase variation-modulating genes (mutS, mutL, and uvrD), as well as six additional loci (pilP, fbpA, fbpB, NMA1233, and two intergenic regions). The implications of these insertion mutations are discussed.
Alexander
Heather L
HL
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University School of Medicine, 1510 Clifton Rd., Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. heather.alexander@hhs.gov
Rasmussen
Andrew W
AW
Stojiljkovic
Igor
I
D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D002876:Chromosomes, Bacterial; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D015723:Gene Library; D006801:Humans; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D038381:Neisseria meningitidis, Serogroup A / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid / Q000235:genetics*; D013045:Species Specificity; D019895:Transposases
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D019895:Transposases