Description and nomenclature of Neisseria meningitidis capsule locus by Harrison, O, Claus, H, Jiang, Y, Bennett, J, Bratcher, H, Jolley, K, Corton, C, Care, R, Poolman, J, Zollinger, W, Frasch, C, Stephens, D, Feavers, I, Frosch, M, Parkhill, J, Vogel, U, Quail, M, Bentley, S, Maiden, M

“… <p>Pathogenic Neisseria meningitidis isolates contain a polysaccharide capsule that is the main virulence determinant for this bacterium. …”

Sequence, distribution and chromosomal context of class I and class II pilin genes of Neisseria meningitidis identified in whole genome sequences. by Wörmann, M, Horien, C, Bennett, J, Jolley, K, Maiden, M, Tang, C, Aho, E, Exley, R

“…BACKGROUND: Neisseria meningitidis expresses type four pili (Tfp) which are important for colonisation and virulence. …”

Nasal inoculation of the commensal Neisseria lactamica inhibits carriage of Neisseria meningitidis by young adults: A controlled human infection study. by Deasy, A, Guccione, E, Dale, A, Andrews, N, Evans, C, Bennett, J, Bratcher, H, Maiden, M, Gorringe, A, Read, R

“…Given the inverse epidemiological association between colonization by commensalNeisseria lactamicaand meningococcal disease, we investigated whether controlled infection of human volunteers withN. lactamicaprevents colonization byNeisseria meningitidis.</p> <h4>Methods</h4> <p>In a block-randomized human challenge study, 310 university students were inoculated with 10^4 colony-forming units ofN. lactamicaor were sham-inoculated, and carriage was monitored for 26 weeks, after which all participants were reinoculated withN. lactamicaand resampled 2 weeks later.…”

Evolutionary and genomic insights into meningococcal biology by Bratcher, H, Bennett, J, Maiden, M

“…Epidemic disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis, the meningococcus, has been recognized for two centuries, but remains incompletely controlled and understood. …”

Variation in the Neisseria lactamica porin, and its relationship to meningococcal PorB. by Bennett, J, Callaghan, M, Derrick, J, Maiden, M

“…One potential vaccine strategy in the fight against meningococcal disease involves the exploitation of outer-membrane components of Neisseria lactamica, a commensal bacterium closely related to the meningococcus, Neisseria meningitidis. Although N. lactamica shares many surface structures with the meningococcus, little is known about the antigenic diversity of this commensal bacterium or the antigenic relationships between N. lactamica and N. meningitidis. …”

The genus Neisseria by Bennett, J, Bratcher, H, Brehony, C, Harrison, O, Maiden, M

“…Most members of the genus are not, or are very rarely, pathogenic, but the genus contains the globally significant pathogens Neisseria meningitidis, the meningococcus, and Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the gonococcus. …”

Pharyngeal carriage of Neisseria species in the African meningitis belt by Diallo, K, Maiden, M, Bennett, J, Rebbetts, L, Watkins, E, Trotter, C, Timbine, Y, Tamboura, B, Sow, S, Issaka, B, Dano, I, Collard, J, Dieng, M, Diallo, A, Mihret, A, Ali, O, Aseffa, A, Quaye, S, Bugri, A, Osei, I, Gamougam, K, Mbainadji, L, Douglas, D, Gadzama, G, Sambo, Z, Omotara, B, Nascimento, M, Woukeu, A, Manigert, O, Borrow, R, Stuart, J, Greenwood, B

“…Objectives. Neisseria meningitidis, together with the non-pathogenic Neisseria species (NPNs), are members of the complex microbiota of the human pharynx. …”

Genetic diversity and carriage dynamics of Neisseria lactamica in infants. by Bennett, J, Griffiths, D, McCarthy, N, Sleeman, K, Jolley, K, Crook, D, Maiden, M

“…Neisseria lactamica, a harmless human commensal found predominantly in the upper respiratory tracts of infants, is closely related to Neisseria meningitidis, a pathogen of global significance. …”

Distribution and diversity of the haemoglobin-haptoglobin iron-acquisition systems in pathogenic and non-pathogenic Neisseria. by Harrison, O, Bennett, J, Derrick, J, Maiden, M, Bayliss, C

“…HpuAB was widely present in a range of Neisseria species whereas HmbR was mainly limited to the pathogenic species Neisseria meningitidis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Patterns of sequence variation in sequences from HpuAB proteins were suggestive of recombination and diversifying selection consistent with strong immune selection. …”

Species status of Neisseria gonorrhoeae: evolutionary and epidemiological inferences from multilocus sequence typing by Bennett, J, Jolley, K, Sparling, P, Saunders, N, Hart, C, Feavers, I, Maiden, M

“…Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) has been used successfully to characterize the related organisms Neisseria meningitidis and Neisseria lactamica. Here, the same seven locus Neisseria scheme was used to characterize a diverse collection of N. gonorrhoeae isolates to investigate whether this method would allow differentiation among isolates, and to distinguish these three species.…”