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Journal of Bacteriology, March 2000, p. 1296-1303, Vol. 182, No. 5
0021-9193/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Differential Distribution of Novel Restriction-Modification Systems in Clonal Lineages of Neisseria meningitidis

Heike Claus, Alexander Friedrich, Matthias Frosch, and Ulrich Vogel*

Institut für Hygiene und Mikrobiologie, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany

Received 3 September 1999/Accepted 30 November 1999

Using representational difference analysis, we isolated novel meningococcal restriction-modification (R-M) systems. NmeBI, which is a homologue of the R-M system HgaI of Pasteurella volantium, was present in meningococci of the ET-5 complex and of lineage III. NmeAI was found in serogroup A, ET-37 complex, and cluster A4 meningococci. NmeDI was harbored by meningococci of the ET-37 complex and of cluster A4, but not by serogroup A meningococci. Two of the R-M systems, NmeBI and NmeDI, were located at homologous positions between the phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase genes pheS and pheT, which appeared to be a preferential target for the insertion of foreign DNA in meningococci. The distribution of the three R-M systems was tested with 103 meningococcal strains comprising 49 sequence types. The vast majority of the strains had either NmeBI, NmeAI, or both NmeAI and NmeDI. Using cocultivation experiments, we could demonstrate that NmeBI, which was present in ET-5 complex meningococci, was responsible for a partial restriction of DNA transfer from meningococci of the ET-37 complex to meningococci of the ET-5 complex.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institut für Hygiene und Mikrobiologie, Universität Würzburg, Josef-Schneider-Str. 2, 97080 Würzburg, Germany. Phone: 49(931)201 3902. Fax: 49(931)201 3445. E-mail: uvogel{at}hygiene.uni-wuerzburg.de.

Journal of Bacteriology, March 2000, p. 1296-1303, Vol. 182, No. 5
0021-9193/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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