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Molecular characterisation of group A Neisseria meningitidis isolated in Sudan 1985–2001
Author(s) -
JACOBSSON SUSANNE,
ISSA MOHAMED,
UNEMO MAGNUS,
BÄCKMAN ANDERS,
MÖLLING PAULA,
SULAIMAN NAGEEB,
OLCÉN PER
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
apmis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1600-0463
pISSN - 0903-4641
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0463.2003.apm1111108.x
Subject(s) - multilocus sequence typing , neisseria meningitidis , pulsed field gel electrophoresis , serotype , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , typing , molecular epidemiology , restriction enzyme , clone (java method) , neisseriaceae , genetics , meningococcal disease , genotype , virology , gene , antibiotics , bacteria
A total of 33 group A Neisseria meningitidis (Mc) isolates, collected in Sudan between 1985 and 2001, were studied in order to describe the changes over time in a country within the meningitis belt of Africa. The isolates were characterised by traditional phenotypic methods (serogrouping, serotyping, serosubtyping and antibiogram) and molecular techniques (genosubtyping, pulsed‐field gel electrophoresis [PFGE] with restriction endonucleases Spe I and Nhe I, and multilocus sequence typing [MLST]). Three clones of group A Mc were identified: one before 1988 (sulphadiazine sensitive, serotype 4, genosubtype P1.7,13‐1,35‐1, sequence type 4 [ST‐4]); another during and after the 1988 epidemic (sulphadiazine resistant, serotype 4, genosubtype P1.20,9,35‐1, ST‐5); and a third causing the 1999 epidemic (sulphadiazine resistant, serotype 4, genosubtype P1.20,9,35‐1, ST‐7). The first clone showed major differences compared to the other two. The second and third clones had many similarities with differences in only a single gene ( pgm ) in the MLST (47 of the 450 bp) but significant other differences according to the PFGE patterns. Within the clones, genosubtyping and MLST gave identical information (except one base substitution in the aroE gene in one isolate). However, the PFGE patterns showed changes over time within the clones, where Spe I revealed somewhat more diversity than Nhe I.