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Reassortment of pilin genes in Neisseria gonorrhoeae occurs by two distinct mechanisms

Abstract

PHASE and antigenic variation of pilin expression in Neisseria gonorrhoeae result from recombination events in which variant sequences from one of the silent loci (pilS) are transferred to the expression locus (pilE). Such rearrangements were originally thought to be gene conversions1–3, but findings showing that phase variation is partially inhibited by DNase I4,5, that piliated (P+) cells are highly competent for DNA uptake6 and that gonococci readily undergo autolysis in culture7, led to the suggestion that pilin variation occurs through transformation by exogenous DNA4,8. We have developed a simple method for the selection of non-piliated (P-) cells and have evaluated naturally occurring P+ to P- transitions. Two primary pathways of pilin variation can be distinguished—transformation-mediated recombination, which is influenced by culture conditions and inhibited by DNase I, and intragenomic reciprocal recombination, which is unaffected by DNase I. Furthermore, we demonstrate that both piliated and revertible P- cells are competent for DNA uptake, an essential prerequisite of the first pathway.

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Gibbs, C., Reimann, BY., Schultz, E. et al. Reassortment of pilin genes in Neisseria gonorrhoeae occurs by two distinct mechanisms. Nature 338, 651–652 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/338651a0

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