Meningococcal genetic variation mechanisms viewed through comparative analysis of serogroup C strain FAM18.

ABSTRACT: The bacterium Neisseria meningitidis is commonly found harmlessly colonising the mucosal surfaces of the human nasopharynx. Occasionally strains can invade host tissues causing septicaemia and meningitis, making the bacterium a major cause of morbidity and mortality in both the developed and developing world. The species is known to be diverse in many ways, as a product of its natural transformability and of a range of recombination and mutation-based systems. Previous work on pathogenic Neisseria has identified several mechanisms for the generation of diversity of surface structures, including phase variation based on slippage-like mechanisms and sequence conversion of expressed genes using information from silent loci. Comparison of the genome sequences of two N. meningitidis strains, se

SUBMITTER: Bentley SD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1797815 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature