Characterization of serogroup C meningococci isolated from 14 provinces of China during 1966-2005 using comparative genomic hybridization.
Neisseria meningitidis is a major cause of bacterial meningitis and septicemia worldwide. In China, serogroup A strains were responsible for over 95% of the cases, while serogroup C strains were only recovered from a few sporadic cases. However, a sudden increase in the number of cases due to serogroup C strains occurred during 2003-2005 in Anhui Province, China. Many cases were found in other provinces at the same time. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) results indicated that the unique sequence type 4821 clone meningococci, a new hyper-virulent lineage, was responsible for the serogroup C meningitis outbreaks. We have completed the project of sequencing the whole genome of the Chinese N. meningitidis serogroup C representative isolate 053442. We fabricated a whole-genome microarray of N. meningitidis isolate 053442 and analyzed the genome composition differences among 81 serogroup C isolates which were isolated from 14 provinces of China during 1966-2005. The comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) result shows that the genome compositions of nearly all serogroup C isolates are similar to that of 053442. The products of many absent open reading frames (ORFs) are conserved hypothetical proteins. The results will provide a valuable resource from which one can analyze the genome composition and genetic background of serogroup C meningococci in China.
Peng
JunPing
J
State Key Laboratory for Molecular Virology and Genetic Engineering, Beijing, 100052, China.
Zhang
XiaoBing
X
Yang
E
E
Wang
Jing
J
Yang
Jian
J
Shao
ZhuJun
Z
Jin
Qi
Q
D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D008585:Meningitis, Meningococcal / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D038542:Neisseria meningitidis, Serogroup C / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D012189:Retrospective Studies