Genetic basis of pyocin resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae

The genetic basis for pyocin resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae 1291(d), 1291(e), and FA5100 was determined by Southern blot and DNA sequence analyses. The genes defective in these strains are present as single copies in the gonococcal chromosome. The mutant regions of 1291(d), 1291(e), and FA5100 were amplified by the PCR. Sequence analysis of the mutant regions demonstrated that strain 1291(d) contains a 12-bp deletion that results in the loss of four amino acids in phosphoglucomutase, while strain 1291(e) contains a point mutation that results in the change of an uncharged glycine residue to a charged glutamic acid residue in the same protein. FA5100 contains a nonsense mutation in the gene encoding heptosyltransferase II. The gene previously described as lsi-I was shown to complement an rfaF mutation in Salmonella typhimurium and has been renamed rfaF.