Inter-strain and inter-strain transformation of Neisseria meningitidis

This study identifies the distribution of homologous recombination (HR) events following inter-species and inter-strain Mc transformations of rpoB alleles encoding rifampicin resistance by whole genome DNA sequencing and SNV analysis. HR events were confined to the genomic region surrounding the genetic marker used for selection. The lengths of recombination events were found with a wide size distribution, with integration of both small and considerably large fragments of up to about 72 kb. These results indicate that recombination event lengths in the highly transformable Mc is longer when transformed with donor DNA from another Mc compared to donor DNA from a closely related species (p<.001).