Evolutionary Events Associated with an Outbreak of Meningococcal Disease in Men Who Have Sex with Men.

Muhamed-Kheir Taha (1) , Heike Claus (2) , Martin Lappann (2) , Frédéric J Veyrier (3, 1) , Andreas Otto (4) , Dörte Becher (4) , Ala-Eddine Deghmane (1) , Matthias Frosch (2) , Wiebke Hellenbrand (5) , Eva Hong (1) , Isabelle Parent Du Châtelet (6) , Karola Prior (7) , Dag Harmsen (7) , Ulrich Vogel (2)

1 CNR - Centre National de Référence des Méningocoques et Haemophilus influenzae - National Reference Center Meningococci and Haemophilus influenzae
2 Institute of Hygiene and Microbiology [Wuerzburg]
3 INRS-IAF - Institut Armand Frappier
4 Institut für Mikrobiologie - Institute for Microbiology
5 RKI - Robert Koch Institute [Berlin]
6 INVS - Institut de Veille Sanitaire
7 WWU - Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster = University of Münster

Meningococci spread via respiratory droplets, whereas the closely related gonococci are transmitted sexually. Several outbreaks of invasive meningococcal disease have been reported in Europe and the United States among men who have sex with men (MSM). We recently identified an outbreak of serogroup C meningococcal disease among MSM in Germany and France. In this study, genomic and proteomic techniques were used to analyze the outbreak isolates. In addition, genetically identical urethritis isolates were recovered from France and Germany and included in the analysis. Genome sequencing revealed that the isolates from the outbreak among MSM and from urethritis cases belonged to a clade within clonal complex 11. Proteome analysis showed they expressed nitrite reductase, enabling anaerobic growth as previously described for gonococci. Invasive isolates from MSM, but not urethritis isolates, further expressed functional human factor H binding protein associated with enhanced survival in a newly developed transgenic mouse model expressing human factor H, a complement regulatory protein. In conclusion, our data suggest that urethritis and outbreak isolates followed a joint adaptation route including adaption to the urogenital tract.

Keywords: Men who have sex with men; Meningococcal disease; Neisseria meningitidis; Nitrites; Neisseria gonorrhoeae; Mammalian genomics; Mouse models; Genome sequencing

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Human health and pathology; Infectious diseases

Muhamed-Kheir Taha, Heike Claus, Martin Lappann, Frédéric J Veyrier, Andreas Otto, et al.. Evolutionary Events Associated with an Outbreak of Meningococcal Disease in Men Who Have Sex with Men.. PLoS ONE, 2016, 11 (5), pp.e0154047. ⟨10.1371/journal.pone.0154047⟩. ⟨pasteur-01351740⟩