Skip to main content
. 2024 Jun 21;79(8):1885–1899. doi: 10.1093/jac/dkae176

Table 2.

Genetic characteristics of relevance for epidemiology, diagnostics and AMR in the 2024 WHO Neisseria gonorrhoeae reference strains (n = 15), which are relevant for susceptibility testing of current, previous and novel therapeutic antimicrobials

Characteristics WHO Fa WHO H WHO Ka WHO La WHO Ma WHO Oa WHO Pa WHO Q WHO R WHO S2 WHO Ua WHO Va WHO Xa WHO Ya WHO Za
MLST sequence type (ST)39,40 ST10934 ST1901 ST7363 ST1590 ST7367 ST1902 ST8127 ST12039 ST1903 ST11422 ST7367 ST10314 ST7363 ST1901 ST7363
NG-MAST ST40,41 ST3303 ST1407 ST1424 ST1422 ST3304 ST495 ST3305 ST16848 ST3435 ST3935 ST2382 ST8927 ST4220 ST1407 ST4015
NG-STAR ST42 ST2 ST1582 ST4 ST5 ST6 ST8 ST9 ST996 ST233 ST193 ST224 ST225 ST226 ST16 ST227
NG-STAR clonal complex (CC)43 CC1401 CC90 CC348 CC1229 Ungroupable CC26 CC63 CC73 CC199 CC63 CC2047 CC127 CC348 CC90 CC348
porA pseudogene mutant81 — — — — — — — — — — Yes — — — —
cppB gene82–84 — Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
pip gene mutant45 — — — — — — — — — — Yes — — — —
penA mosaic allele2,4,9,10,19–28,42,80 — Yes Yes — — — — Yes Yes — — — Yes Yes Yes
NG-STAR penA allele42 15.001 34.009 10.001 7.001 2.001 12.001 2.001 60.001 60.001 2.001 2.001 5.002 37.001 42.001 64.001
PBP2 A3112,4,9,10,42,78,80,85,86 — — — — — — — A311V A311V — — — A311V — A311V
PBP2 I312, G5452,4,9,10,42,78,80,86,87 — I312M, G545S I312M, G545S — — — — I312M, G545S I312M, G545S — — — I312M, G545S I312M, G545S I312M, G545S
PBP2 V3162,4,9,10,42,78,80,85–87 — V316T V316T — — — — V316T V316T — — — V316P V316T V316T
PBP2 D345 insertion2,4,42,80 — — — Yes Yes Yes Yes — — Yes Yes Yes — — —
PBP2 T4832,4,85,86 — — — — — — — T483S T483S — — — T483S — T483S
PBP2 A5012,4,42,80,86,87 — — — A501V — — — — — — — — — A501P —
PBP2 N5122,4,85,86 — N512Y N512Y — — — — N512Y N512Y — — — N512Y N512Y N512Y
PBP2 T53436 — T534A — — — — — — — — — — — — —
PBP2 G5424,42,80,86,88 — — — G542S — — — — — — — G542S — — —
PBP2 P5514,42,80,86,88 — — — — — P551S — — — — — — — — —
mtrR promoter; 13 bp inverted repeat4,42,86,89–91 — A-del A-del — A-del A-del A→C SNP A-del A-del — — A-del A-del A-del A→C SNP
mtr120 92 — — — Yes — — — — — — — — — — —
MtrR promoter mosaic10,38,93–97 — — — — — — Yes
(99.4% Type 1)10,79 		— — Yes
(Type 2)10,79 		— — — — —
MtrD mosaic10,38,93–97 — — — — — — Yes
(Type 1)10,79 		— — Yes
(Type 2)10,79 		— — — — —
MtrD R714, S821, K82338,94–97 — — — — — — — — — S821A, K823E — — — — —
MtrR A39, G454,89–91,98 — — G45D G45D G45D — N/Ab G45D — — — — — — —
mtrR coding region frame-shift mutation4,35 — — — — — — T-insert 60b — — — — — — — —
PorB1b G1014,86,99,100 N/Ac G101K G101K G101K G101K G101K — G101K G101K G101K — G101K G101K G101K G101K
PorB1b A1024,86,99,100 N/Ac A102N A102D A102D A102D A102D A102D A102D A102D A102N — A102D A102D A102N A102D
ponA1; PBP1 L421101 — L421P L421P L421P L421P L421P — L421P L421P — L421P L421P L421P L421P L421P
GyrA S91, D951,2,4,42,86,102 — S91F, D95G S91F, D95N S91F, D95N S91F, D95G — — S91F, D95A S91F, D95A — — S91F, D95G S91F, D95N S91F, D95G S91F, D95N
GyrA A9255,56 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
GyrB D429, K450, S46749–53 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
ParC D86, S87 or S8886,102 — S87R S87R, S88P D86N, S88P — — — S87R S87R — — S87R S87R, S88P S87R S87R, S88P
ParE G410103 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
16S rRNA (C1192)d,4,104 — — — — — C→T (4/) — — — — — — — — —
RpsE T24105 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
23S rRNA (A2059, C2611)d,1,2,4,42,106,107 — — — — — — — A→G (4/4) — — C→T (4/4) A→G (4/4) — — —
rpsJ V5786,108 — V57M V57M V57M V57M V57M V57M V57M V57M V57M V57M V57M V57M V57M V57M
RpoB H552109 — — — — H552N — H552N — H552N — — — — — —
FolP R228110 — R228S R228S — R228S R228S R228S R228S R228S R228S R228S R228S R228S R228S R228S
ß-lactamase plasmid type86,111–113 — — — — African African — — Asian — — Asian — — —
blaTEM allele112 — — — — TEM-1 TEM-1 — — TEM-135 — — TEM-1 — — —
tet(M) plasmid type86,114,115 — — — — — — — Dutch — — — — — — —

Note: none of the 23S rRNA A2058,116rplD,78rplV,78rpoB,78,117rpoD,78,117mef,118ereA,119ereB,119ermC119 and ermF119 mutations associated with increased MICs of macrolides or cephalosporins were present.

ST, sequence type; PBP2, Penicillin-binding protein 2; rRNA, ribosomal RNA.

aInclude some previously published results,35 however, many additional genes and mutations, and reference genomes have been characterized in the present paper.

bN/A, not applicable due to frame-shift mutation that causes a premature stop codon and truncated peptide.

cN/A, not applicable because these strains were of serogroup WI (PorB1a).

d Escherichia coli numbering (A2045 and C2597, respectively, in N. gonorrhoeae). Number of the four alleles of the 23S rRNA gene with mutations is shown in parenthesis.