News

The N. gonorrhoeae pilE gene encodes the PilE protein, which is a subunit of the Type IV pilus—a hairlike structure found on the bacteria's surface—which helps the bacteria infect the host cell and spread. What we also know is that in the laboratory, when you lose expression of the pilus, the bacteria grow faster, said Seifert, who is also a professor of microbiology-immunology. The findings demonstrate that all N. gonorrhoeae strains contain the genes necessary for pilus expression, however, because most isolates are piliated when isolated, the authors suggest that these samples were in vitro-derived variants based on the amount of irreversible, non-piliated pilE deletions. "The clinical labs that isolate the bacteria and the laboratories that then determine the genomic sequence should, in this case, pay attention to whether they retain piliation or not," Seifert said."