NEISSERIA GONORRHOEAE I

Kellogg, Douglas S., Jr. (Communicable Disease Center, Atlanta, Ga.), William L. Peacock, Jr., W. E. Deacon, L. Brown, and Carl I. Pirkle . Neisseria gonorrhoeae . I. Virulence genetically linked to clonal variation. J. Bacteriol. 85: 1274–1279. 1963.—One type, obtained from the purulent exudate of acute gonorrhea was maintained by 69 selective in vitro passages, at which point the organisms produced infections in human volunteers. A predominance of clonal types found in laboratory strains and a lack of ability to infect human volunteers resulted from 69 nonselective in vitro passages. Physiological and serological characteristics of the clonal types are compared. We are now in a position to study Neisseria gonorrhoeae organisms in their virulent form.