title: Opa-typing can identify epidemiologically distinct subgroups within Neisseria gonorrhoeae multi-antigen sequence type (NG-MAST) clusters.
abstract: A collection of 106 Neisseria gonorrhoeae ciprofloxacin-resistant isolates were typed using Neisseria gonorrhoeae multi-antigen sequence typing (NG-MAST). Opa-typing was performed on 74 isolates which had non-unique sequence types to determine if further discrimination could be achieved and if so whether this had any epidemiological basis. The 74 isolates were separated into 12 sequence types and 20 opa-types (OT). Seven opa-type clusters were congruent with the sequence types and five sequence types could be subdivided by opa-typing. These results demonstrate that opa-typing can add a further level of discrimination compared with NG-MAST. The surveillance data for isolates in the largest sequence type cluster (ST 147) indicated that two major subdivisions OT 1 and OT 2 differed epidemiologically by patients' sexual preference and geographical location. ST 147 is a common strain that has been isolated in several countries since 1999; our results suggest that it has diverged into at least two epidemiologically discrete forms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Microbiology, Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Palmer
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Young
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D002939:Ciprofloxacin / Q000494:pharmacology; D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D005260:Female; D006069:Gonorrhea / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009344:Neisseria gonorrhoeae / Q000145:classification* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012606:Scotland / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D002939:Ciprofloxacin