Genotype Diversity in the Local Arkhangelsk (Russia) Neisseria gonorrhoeae Population: Emergence Mechanisms and Relation with Antimicrobial Resistance

Abstract

132 clinical isolates of N. gonorrhoeae collected in Arkhangelsk region during 2014–2016 were analyzed in accordance with the NG-MAST protocol (Neisseria gonorrhoeae Multi Antigen Sequence Typing). A diversity of the analyzed strains was represented by 53 NG-MAST sequence-types; 30 of them were new registered due to earlier unknown either porB and tbpB sequences or their combinations. Three pathways of the diversity formation are supposed: long-term circulation of some NG-MAST-types with sequential transmission via the “sexual chains” (40.1% of the total population); introduction of new molecular types (27.3%); appearance of point mutations in porB and tbpB genes with the emergence of previously unknown genotypic variants of N. gonorrhoeae (32.6%). Emerged NG-MAST types inherited the mutational profile in penA, ponA, rpsJ, gyrA, and parC genes followed by conservation of antimicrobial resistance in the local N. gonorrhoeae population, whereas these determinants do not play a significant role in contemporary gonococci molecular evolution.