Lung abscess due to Neisseria meningitidis serogroup X—unexpected virulence of a commensal resulting from putative serogroup B capsular switching

Célia Bettencourt, Alexandra Nunes, Ana Maria Correia, João Paulo Gomes, Maria João Simões

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

To report the first case of a lung abscess caused by Neisseria meningitidis (Nm) and to genetically characterize the rare underlying capsule switching event. The strain (PT NmX) was subjected to whole genome sequencing, and a comparative gene-by-gene analysis was performed based on 1605 N. meningitidis core loci that constitute the MLST core-genome scheme (cgMLST) V1.0. All ~ 9,600 genomes available on Neisseria PubMLST (until 30th November 2019) from all serogroups were used to better identify the genome make-up of the PT NmX strain. This strain was found to be highly divergent from other NmX reported worldwide and to belong to a new sequence type (ST-14273), with the finetype X: P1.19,15-1:F5-2. Moreover, it revealed a closer genetic proximity to strains from serogroup B than to other serogroups, suggesting a genome backbone associated with serogroup B, while it presents a capsule synthesis region derived from a NmX strain. We describe a new hybrid NmB/X isolate from a noninvasive meningococcal infection, causing lung abscess. Despite capsular switching events involving serogroup X are rare, it may lead to the emergence of pathogenic potential. Studies should continue to better understand the molecular basis underlying Neisseria strains’ ability to spread to body compartments other than the tissues for which their tropism is already known.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2327-2334
Number of pages8
JournalEuropean Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
Volume39
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2020
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

Keywords

  • Capsular switching
  • Lung abscess
  • Neisseria meningitidis
  • Serogroup X

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