Phylogenetic study of clonal complex (CC)198 capsule null locus (cnl) genomes: A distinctive group within the species Neisseria meningitidis

- We compared 28 Neisseria genomes to analyze possible evolutionary scenarios.
- We compared galE and tex in the capsule locus of strains with regions A and C or not.
- CC198 belongs to a phylogenetically distinct group within N. meningitidis.

Capsule null locus (cnl) strains, one type of specific unencapsulated Neisseria spp., only have regions D and E of the capsule gene cluster which encodes the genes for capsule biosynthesis, modification, and transportation. Compared with encapsulated strains, regions A and C of cnl strains have been replaced by 113 or 114 bp conserved non-coding sequences. Cnl strains include multiple clonal complexes (CC). According to previous studies, CC198 is the major clonal lineage in both cnl patients and healthy cnl carriers. We hypothesized that CC198 possesses different genome characteristics compared with other cnl strains. In this study, we obtained the draft genomes of two CC198 strains from healthy carriers. Using 75071 single nucleotide polymorphisms located in 1163 core genes, we constructed the phylogenetic relationships between a batch of representative Neisseria meningitidis genomes. CC198 and CC1136 clustered together, but apart from other N. meningitidis strains including CC53. We also aligned the sequences of genes located in regions D and E of the capsule gene locus from encapsulated and unencapsulated strains. A number of possible recombination events were identified in the galE and tex genes between different serogroups of encapsulated N. meningitidis and CC53 strains, especially in tex. In contrast, there is almost no recombination in N. meningitidis CC198 strains. These results showed that CC198 belongs to a phylogenetically distinct group within the species N. meningitidis, which may be directly derived from the cnl-type ancestor of N. meningitidis. The encapsulated strains may acquire other necessary genes for capsule formation by horizontal transfer.