B. Rokbi et al., IDENTIFICATION OF 2 MAJOR FAMILIES OF TRANSFERRIN RECEPTORS AMONG NEISSERIA-MENINGITIDIS STRAINS BASED ON ANTIGENIC AND GENOMIC FEATURES, FEMS microbiology letters, 110(1), 1993, pp. 51-58
The transferrin receptor or transferrin-binding proteins (Tbps) of 50
strains of Neisseria meningitidis belonging to different serogroups we
re examined by Western blotting using two rabbit antisera raised again
st Tbp purified from N. meningitidis strains B16B6 and M982. On the ba
sis of the reactivity of Tbp2 with the antisera two patterns were obse
rved and allowed the classification of 74% of the strains in group I (
M982-like strains) and 26% in group II (B16B6-like strains). Southern
blot analysis was performed on the genomic DNA of 16 meningococcal str
ains and showed that under stringent conditions, the tbp2 probes were
specific for each group identified. Both immunological and genomic ana
lyses have led to the identification within N. meningitidis strains of
two major families distinguished on the basis of the characteristics
of Tbp2 molecules, independently of serogroup, type or subtype.