Neisseria meningitidis Lacking the Major Porins PorA and PorB Is Viable and Modulates Apoptosis and the Oxidative Burst of Neutrophils.

ABSTRACT: The bacterial pathogen Neisseria meningitidis expresses two major outer-membrane porins. PorA expression is subject to phase-variation (high frequency, random, on-off switching), and both PorA and PorB are antigenically variable between strains. PorA expression is variable and not correlated with meningococcal colonisation or invasive disease, whereas all naturally-occurring strains express PorB suggesting strong selection for expression. We have generated N. meningitidis strains lacking expression of both major porins, demonstrating that they are dispensable for bacterial growth in vitro. The porAB mutant strain has an exponential growth rate similar to the parental strain, as do the single porA or porB mutants, but the porAB mutant strain does not reach the same cell density in stationar

SUBMITTER: Peak IR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5203797 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature