AUTHOR=Manoharan-Basil Sheeba Santhini , González Natalia , Laumen Jolein Gyonne Elise , Kenyon Chris 

TITLE=Horizontal Gene Transfer of Fluoroquinolone Resistance-Conferring Genes From Commensal Neisseria to Neisseria gonorrhoeae: A Global Phylogenetic Analysis of 20,047 Isolates

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.793612

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2022.793612

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Antimicrobial resistance in <italic>Neisseria gonorrhoeae</italic> is an important global health concern. The genetically related commensal <italic>Neisseria</italic> act as a reservoir of resistance genes, and horizontal gene transfer (HGT) has been shown to play an important role in the genesis of resistance to cephalosporins and macrolides in <italic>N. gonorrhoeae</italic>. In this study, we evaluated if there was evidence of HGT in the genes <italic>gyrA/gyrB</italic> and <italic>parC/parE</italic> responsible for fluoroquinolone resistance. Even though the role of <italic>gyrB</italic> and <italic>parE</italic> in quinolone resistance is unclear, the subunits <italic>gyrB</italic> and <italic>parE</italic> were included as zoliflodacin, a promising new drug to treat <italic>N. gonorrhoeae</italic> targets the <italic>gyrB</italic> subunit. We analyzed a collection of 20,047 isolates; 18,800 <italic>N. gonorrhoeae</italic>, 1,238 commensal <italic>Neisseria</italic> spp., and nine <italic>Neisseria meningitidis</italic>. Comparative genomic analyses identified HGT events in genes, <italic>gyrA</italic>, <italic>gyrB</italic>, <italic>parC</italic>, and <italic>parE</italic>. Recombination events were predicted in <italic>N. gonorrhoeae</italic> and <italic>Neisseria</italic> commensals. <italic>Neisseria lactamica</italic>, <italic>Neisseria macacae</italic>, and <italic>Neisseria mucosa</italic> were identified as likely progenitors of the HGT events in <italic>gyrA</italic>, <italic>gyrB</italic>, and <italic>parE</italic>, respectively.</p>