Non-cultural detection and molecular genotyping of Neisseria gonorrhoeae from a piece of clothing

Iona M.C. Martin, Ellie Foreman, Vicky Hall, Anne Nesbitt, Greta Forster, Catherine A. Ison*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    21 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Isolation of Neisseria gonorrhoeae is currently the gold standard for the definitive diagnosis of gonorrhoea and for use in medico-legal cases in the UK. Molecular detection methods are used increasingly but are untested as evidence of infection in a court of law. An isolate of N. gonorrhoeae was obtained from a child and an article of clothing from an adult male who was suspected of sexual abuse of the child. Biochemical and immunological tests were used to confirm the isolate as N. gonorrhoeae. Amplification by PCR using two targets, cppB and ompIII, was used both as further confirmation of the isolate and to detect the presence of gonococcal-specific DNA from the clothing. The relationship of the gonococcal DNA from the child and the adult was investigated using genotyping (N. gonorrhoeae multi-antigen sequence typing; NG-MAST), including a nested PCR for the por gene. Both samples were indistinguishable by NG-MAST and shared the same sequence type, 403. This is the first report of molecular detection and genotyping of N. gonorrhoeae on an article of clothing, which resulted in conviction of the man for sexual assault.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)487-490
    Number of pages4
    JournalJournal of Medical Microbiology
    Volume56
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Apr 2007

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