Lactate causes changes in gonococci including increased lipopolysaccharide synthesis during short-term incubation in media containing glucose

Chemical-mediated virulence: the effects of host chemicals on microbial virulence and potential new antivirulence strategies

The rising antimicrobial resistance rates and declining antimicrobial discovery necessitate alternative strategies to combat multidrug-resistant pathogens. Targeting microbial virulence is an emerging area of interest. Traditionally, virulence factors were largely restricted to bacteria-derived toxins, adhesins, capsules, quorum sensing systems, secretion systems, factors required to sense, respond to, acquire, or synthesize, and utilize trace elements (such as iron and other metals) and micronutrients (such as vitamins), and other factors bacteria use to establish infection, form biofilms, or damage the host tissues and regulatory elements thereof. However, this traditional definition overlooks bacterial virulence that may be induced or influenced by host-produced metabolites or other chemicals that bacteria may encounter at the infection site. This review will discuss virulence from a non-traditional perspective, shedding light on chemical-mediated host-pathogen interactions and outlining currently available mechanistic insight into increased bacterial virulence in response to host factors. This review aims to define a possibly underestimated theme of chemically mediated host-pathogen interactions and encourage future validation and characterization of the contribution of host chemicals to microbial virulence in vivo. From this perspective, we discuss proposed antivirulence compounds and suggest new potential targets for antimicrobials that prevent chemical-mediated virulence. We also explore proposed host-targeting therapeutics reducing the level of host chemicals that induce microbial virulence, serving as virulence attenuators. Understanding the host chemical-mediated virulence may enable new antimicrobial solutions to fight multidrug-resistant pathogens.

Transcriptional responses of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to glucose and lactate: implications for resistance to oxidative damage and biofilm formation

Understanding how bacteria adapt to different environmental conditions is crucial for advancing knowledge regarding pathogenic mechanisms that operate during infection as well as efforts to develop new therapeutic strategies to cure or prevent infections. Here, we investigated the transcriptional response of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the causative agent of gonorrhea, to L-lactate and glucose, two important carbon sources found in the host environment. Our study revealed extensive transcriptional changes that gonococci make in response to L-lactate, with 37% of the gonococcal transcriptome being regulated, compared to only 9% by glucose. We found that L-lactate induces a transcriptional program that would negatively impact iron transport, potentially limiting the availability of labile iron, which would be important in the face of the multiple hydrogen peroxide attacks encountered by gonococci during its lifecycle. Furthermore, we found that L-lactate-mediated transcriptional response promoted aerobic respiration and dispersal of biofilms, contrasting with an anaerobic condition previously reported to favor biofilm formation. Our findings suggest an intricate interplay between carbon metabolism, iron homeostasis, biofilm formation, and stress response in N. gonorrhoeae, providing insights into its pathogenesis and identifying potential therapeutic targets.IMPORTANCEGonorrhea is a prevalent sexually transmitted infection caused by the human pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae, with ca. 82 million cases reported worldwide annually. The rise of antibiotic resistance in N. gonorrhoeae poses a significant public health threat, highlighting the urgent need for alternative treatment strategies. By elucidating how N. gonorrhoeae responds to host-derived carbon sources such as L-lactate and glucose, this study offers insights into the metabolic adaptations crucial for bacterial survival and virulence during infection. Understanding these adaptations provides a foundation for developing novel therapeutic approaches targeting bacterial metabolism, iron homeostasis, and virulence gene expression. Moreover, the findings reported herein regarding biofilm formation and L-lactate transport and metabolism contribute to our understanding of N. gonorrhoeae pathogenesis, offering potential avenues for preventing and treating gonorrhea infections.

Dinner date: Neisseria gonorrhoeae central carbon metabolism and pathogenesis

Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the causative agent of the sexually transmitted infection gonorrhea, is a human-adapted pathogen that does not productively infect other organisms. The ongoing relationship between N. gonorrhoeae and the human host is facilitated by the exchange of nutrient resources that allow for N. gonorrhoeae growth in the human genital tract. What N. gonorrhoeae 'eats' and the pathways used to consume these nutrients have been a topic of investigation over the last 50 years. More recent investigations are uncovering the impact of N. gonorrhoeae metabolism on infection and inflammatory responses, the environmental influences driving N. gonorrhoeae metabolism, and the metabolic adaptations enabling antimicrobial resistance. This mini-review is an introduction to the field of N. gonorrhoeae central carbon metabolism in the context of pathogenesis. It summarizes the foundational work used to characterize N. gonorrhoeae central metabolic pathways and the effects of these pathways on disease outcomes, and highlights some of the most recent advances and themes under current investigation. This review ends with a brief description of the current outlook and technologies under development to increase understanding of how the pathogenic potential of N. gonorrhoeae is enabled by metabolic adaptation.

Neisseria gonorrhoeae physiology and pathogenesis

Neisseria gonorrhoeae is an obligate human pathogen that is the cause of the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhoea. Recently, there has been a surge in gonorrhoea cases that has been exacerbated by the rapid rise in gonococcal multidrug resistance to all useful antimicrobials resulting in this organism becoming a significant public health burden. Therefore, there is a clear and present need to understand the organism's biology through its physiology and pathogenesis to help develop new intervention strategies. The gonococcus initially colonises and adheres to host mucosal surfaces utilising a type IV pilus that helps with microcolony formation. Other adhesion strategies include the porin, PorB, and the phase variable outer membrane protein Opa. The gonococcus is able to subvert complement mediated killing and opsonisation by sialylation of its lipooligosaccharide and deploys a series of anti-phagocytic mechanisms. N. gonorrhoeae is a fastidious organism that is able to grow on a limited number of primary carbon sources such as glucose and lactate. The utilization of lactate by the gonococcus has been implicated in a number of pathogenicity mechanisms. The bacterium lives mainly in microaerobic environments and can grow both aerobically and anaerobically with the aid of nitrite. The gonococcus does not produce siderophores for scavenging iron but can utilize some produced by other bacteria, and it is able to successful chelate iron from host haem, transferrin and lactoferrin. The gonococcus is an incredibly versatile human pathogen; in the following chapter, we detail the intricate mechanisms used by the bacterium to invade and survive within the host.

Transcriptional regulation of a gonococcal gene encoding a virulence factor (L-lactate permease)

GdhR is a GntR-type regulator of Neisseria gonorrhoeae encoded by a gene (gdhR) belonging to the MtrR regulon, which comprises multiple genes required for antibiotic resistance such as the mtrCDE efflux pump genes. In previous work we showed that loss of gdhR results in enhanced gonococcal fitness in a female mouse model of lower genital tract infection. Here, we used RNA-Seq to perform a transcriptional profiling study to determine the GdhR regulon. GdhR was found to regulate the expression of 2.3% of all the genes in gonococcal strain FA19, of which 39 were activated and 11 were repressed. Within the GdhR regulon we found that lctP, which encodes a unique L-lactate transporter and has been associated with gonococcal pathogenesis, was the highest of GdhR-repressed genes. By using in vitro transcription and DNase I footpriting assays we mapped the lctP transcriptional start site (TSS) and determined that GdhR directly inhibits transcription by binding to an inverted repeat sequence located 9 bases downstream of the lctP TSS. Epistasis analysis revealed that, while loss of lctP increased susceptibility of gonococci to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) the loss of gdhR enhanced resistance; however, this GdhR-endowed property was reversed in a double gdhR lctP null mutant. We assessed the effect of different carbon sources on lctP expression and found that D-glucose, but not L-lactate or pyruvate, repressed lctP expression within a physiological concentration range but in a GdhR-independent manner. Moreover, we found that adding glucose to the medium enhanced susceptibility of gonococci to hydrogen peroxide. We propose a model for the role of lctP regulation via GdhR and glucose in the pathogenesis of N. gonorrhoeae.

Host cell-derived lactate functions as an effector molecule in Neisseria meningitidis microcolony dispersal

The development of meningococcal disease, caused by the human pathogen Neisseria meningitidis, is preceded by the colonization of the epithelial layer in the nasopharynx. After initial adhesion to host cells meningococci form aggregates, through pilus-pilus interactions, termed microcolonies from which the bacteria later detach. Dispersal from microcolonies enables access to new colonization sites and facilitates the crossing of the cell barrier; however, this process is poorly understood. In this study, we used live-cell imaging to investigate the process of N. meningitidis microcolony dispersal. We show that direct contact with host cells is not required for microcolony dispersal, instead accumulation of a host-derived effector molecule induces microcolony dispersal. By using a host-cell free approach, we demonstrated that lactate, secreted from host cells, initiate rapid dispersal of microcolonies. Interestingly, metabolic utilization of lactate by the bacteria was not required for induction of dispersal, suggesting that lactate plays a role as a signaling molecule. Furthermore, Neisseria gonorrhoeae microcolony dispersal could also be induced by lactate. These findings reveal a role of host-secreted lactate in microcolony dispersal and virulence of pathogenic Neisseria.

The human restricted pathogen Neisseria meningitidis is a major cause of bacterial meningitis and sepsis worldwide. Colonization of the mucosal layer in the upper respiratory tract is essential to establish invasive disease. The initial interaction with host cells is characterized by bacterial proliferation and adhesion as aggregates, called microcolonies. Detachment from microcolonies in the nasopharyngeal epithelium facilitates crossing of the cell barrier that can result in invasive disease, yet this process is poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that lactate, an abundant molecule in host mucosal environments, induces N. meningitidis microcolony dispersal. Interestingly, metabolic utilization of lactate by the bacteria was not required for the process, suggesting that lactate play a role as a signaling molecule in pathogenic Neisseria. We propose that the microcolony dispersal in pathogenic Neisseria is influenced by environmental concentrations of lactate. These findings will assist in better understanding the transition from asymptomatic carriage to invasive disease.

A role for lactate dehydrogenases in the survival of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in human polymorphonuclear leukocytes and cervical epithelial cells

Lactate is an abundant metabolite, produced by host tissues and commensal organisms, and it represents an important potential carbon source for bacterial pathogens. In the case of Neisseria spp., the importance of the lactate permease in colonization of the host has been demonstrated, but there have been few studies of lactate metabolism in pathogenic Neisseria in the postgenomic era. We describe herein the characterization of genome-annotated, respiratory, and substrate-level lactate dehydrogenases (LDHs) from the obligate human pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Biochemical assays using N. gonorrhoeae 1291 wild type and isogenic mutant strains showed that cytoplasmic LdhA (NAD(+)-dependent D-lactate dehydrogenase) and the membrane-bound respiratory enzymes, LdhD (D-lactate dehydrogenase) and LldD (L-lactate dehydrogenase) are correctly annotated. Mutants lacking LdhA and LdhD showed greatly reduced survival in neutrophils compared with wild type cells, highlighting the importance of D-lactate metabolism in gonococcal survival. Furthermore, an assay of host colonization using the well-established human primary cervical epithelial cell model revealed that the two respiratory enzymes make a significant contribution to colonization of and survival within the microaerobic environment of the host. Taken together, these data suggest that host-derived lactate is critical for the growth and survival of N. gonorrhoeae in human cells.

Lactate acquisition promotes successful colonization of the murine genital tract by Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Previous studies on Neisseria gonorrhoeae have demonstrated that metabolism of lactate in the presence of glucose increases the growth rate of the bacterium and enhances its resistance to complement-mediated killing. Although these findings in vitro suggest that the acquisition of lactate promotes gonococcal colonization, the significance of this carbon source to the survival of the gonococcus in vivo remains unknown. To investigate the importance of lactate utilization during Neisseria gonorrhoeae genital tract infection, we identified the gene lctP, which encodes the gonococcal lactate permease. A mutant that lacks a functional copy of lctP was unable to take up exogenous lactate and did not grow in defined medium with lactate as the sole carbon source, in contrast to the wild-type and complemented strains; the mutant strain exhibited no growth defect in defined medium containing glucose. In defined medium containing physiological concentrations of lactate and glucose, the lctP mutant demonstrated reduced early growth and increased sensitivity to complement-mediated killing compared with the wild-type strain; the enhanced susceptibility to complement was associated with a reduction in lipopolysaccharide sialylation of the lctP mutant. The importance of lactate utilization during colonization was evaluated in the murine model of lower genital tract infection. The lctP mutant was significantly attenuated in its ability to colonize and survive in the genital tract, while the complemented mutant exhibited no defect for colonization. Lactate is a micronutrient in the genital tract that contributes to the survival of the gonococcus.

Lactate carbon does not enter the sugars of lipopolysaccharide when gonococci are grown in a medium containing glucose and lactate: implications in vivo

In media containing glucose, lactate stimulates the metabolism of gonococci at concentrations that simulate conditions in vivo. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy of (13)C-labelled lipids obtained from gonococci grown in a synthetic medium with (13)C-labelled lactate and unlabelled glucose (culture A), (13)C-labelled glucose alone (culture B) or (13)C-labelled glucose and unlabelled lactate (culture C) showed lactate carbon was not present in glycerol/ethanolamine residues of lipids from culture A. This indicated that, in the presence of glucose, lactate gluconeogenesis is shut down. Hence, the stimulation of metabolism could result from the production of extra energy because lactate is used solely for conversion to acetyl-CoA, the precursor of fatty acid synthesis and the components of the tricarboxylic acid cycle. In this paper, additional evidence for lack of gluconeogenesis has been sought using a different approach. The carbohydrate moieties of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) have been examined for lactate carbon after gonococci were grown with lactate and glucose. Two methods were used: NMR spectroscopy of (13)C-labelled lipopolysaccharide purified from the three cultures described above showed that, in the presence of glucose, lactate carbon, in contrast to glucose carbon, was not in the carbohydrate moiety. Also, (14)C-labelled lactate was added to a culture containing unlabelled glucose and lactate (culture A) and [(14)C]glucose to cultures containing unlabelled glucose without unlabelled lactate (culture B) and with unlabelled lactate (culture C). When LPS samples purified from these cultures were subjected to hydrazinolysis, the ratio of the radioactivity of water-soluble products (carbohydrate moieties) to those of chloroform-soluble products (fatty acids) was much lower when [(14)C]lactate was used in culture A, than when [(14)C]glucose was used in cultures B and C. Thus, in the presence of glucose, lactate carbon, unlike glucose carbon, is incorporated predominantly into fatty acids of LPS, not into its carbohydrate moieties. There is no doubt, therefore, that gluconeogenesis is shut off when lactate is present with glucose and there is a consequent stimulation of metabolism. This probably occurs in vivo on mucous surfaces, where gonococci are surrounded by a mixture of glucose and lactate in the secretions.

Growth of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in the female mouse genital tract does not require the gonococcal transferrin or hemoglobin receptors and may be enhanced by commensal lactobacilli

Neisseria gonorrhoeae is capable of utilizing a variety of iron sources in vitro, including human transferrin, human lactoferrin, hemoglobin, hemoglobin-haptoglobin complexes, heme, and heterologous siderophores. Transferrin has been implicated as a critical iron store for N. gonorrhoeae in the human male urethra. The demonstration that gonococci can infect the lower genital tracts of estradiol-treated BALB/c mice in the absence of human transferrin, however, suggests that other usable iron sources are present in the murine genital tract. Here we demonstrate that gonococcal transferrin and hemoglobin receptor mutants are not attenuated in mice, thereby ruling out transferrin and hemoglobin as essential for murine infection. An increased frequency of phase variants with the hemoglobin receptor "on" (Hg(+)) occurred in ca. 50% of infected mice; this increase was temporally associated with an influx of neutrophils and detectable levels of hemoglobin in the vagina, suggesting that the presence of hemoglobin in inflammatory exudates selects for Hg(+) phase variants during infection. We also demonstrate that commensal lactobacilli support the growth of N. gonorrhoeae in vitro unless an iron chelator is added to the medium. We hypothesize that commensal lactobacilli may enhance growth of gonococci in vivo by promoting the solubilization of iron on mucosal surfaces through the production of metabolic intermediates. Finally, transferrin-binding lipoprotein (TbpB) was detected on gonococci in vaginal smears, suggesting that although gonococci replicate within the genital tracts of mice, they may be sufficiently iron-stressed to express iron-repressible proteins. In summary, these studies support the potential role of nontransferrin, nonhemoglobin iron sources during gonococcal infection of the female genital tract.

In a medium containing glucose, lactate carbon is incorporated by gonococci predominantly into fatty acids and glucose carbon incorporation is increased: implications regarding lactate stimulation of metabolism

The reason for stimulation by lactate of metabolism of gonococci growing in a medium containing glucose, which enhances pathogenicity by increasing growth rate, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) synthesis and protein formation, has been investigated. Tricine dodecylpolyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and thin layer chromatography (TLC) on homogenates of gonococci grown in this medium with [14C]lactate showed that lactate carbon was preferentially incorporated into lipid and LPS. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy on lipid extracted from gonococci grown in the glucose containing medium with [13C]lactate showed that lactate carbon was incorporated into fatty acid moieties and not into ethanolamine or glycerol moieties. In contrast, NMR on lipid from gonococci grown with [13C]glucose indicated glucose carbon in both moieties. When unlabelled lactate was added, lipid synthesis from [l3C]glucose was stimulated and small amounts of different fatty acids were formed. The NMR data shows that gluconeogenesis from lactate carbon does not occur in the presence of glucose, suggesting that lactate is used solely for rapid production, via pyruvate, of acetyl CoA, the precursor not only for fatty acid synthesis but also for the constituents and products of the citric acid cycle, including ATP. The rapid formation of a high level of acetyl CoA is the probable reason for the stimulation of metabolism and oxygen uptake by lactate. 14C label on LPS was detected in its fatty acids. Most proteins that stained with silver in tricine SDS-PAGE were not significantly labelled by [14C]lactate in the glucose-containing medium. Two of three appreciably labelled proteins were identified by N-terminal sequencing as GroEL and porin 1B, and one of the two less labelled proteins was similar to peroxiredoxin type proteins. There were no signs of specific induction of these proteins by lactate and their labelling was consistent with fatty acids in attached lipid.

Identification of transcription activators that regulate gonococcal adaptation from aerobic to anaerobic or oxygen-limited growth

Analysis of the Neisseria gonorrhoeae DNA sequence database revealed the presence of two genes, one encoding a protein predicted to be 37. 5% identical (50% similar) in amino acid sequence to the Escherichia coli FNR protein and the other encoding a protein 41% and 42% identical (54 and 51% sequence similarity) to the E. coli NarL and NarP proteins respectively. Both genes have been cloned into E. coli and insertionally inactivated in vitro. The mutated genes have been transformed into gonococci and recombined into the chromosome. The fnr mutation totally abolished and the narP mutation severely diminished the ability of gonococci to: (i) grow anaerobically; (ii) adapt to oxygen-limited growth; (iii) initiate transcription from the aniA promoter (which directs the expression of a copper-containing nitrite reductase, AniA, in response to the presence of nitrite); and (iv) reduce nitrite during growth in oxygen-limited media. The product of nitrite reduction was identified to be nitrous oxide. Immediately upstream of the narL/narP gene is an open reading frame that, if translated, would encode a homologue of the E. coli nitrate- and nitrite-sensing proteins NarX and NarQ. As transcription from the aniA promoter was not activated during oxygen-limited growth in the presence of nitrate, the gonococcal two-component regulatory system is designated NarQ-NarP rather than NarX-NarL. As far as we are aware, this is the first well-documented example of a two-component regulatory system working in partnership with a transcription activator in pathogenic neisseria. A 45 kDa c-type cytochrome that was synthesized during oxygen-limited, but not during oxygen sufficient, growth was identified as a homologue of cytochrome c peroxidases (CCP) of other bacteria. The gene for this cytochrome, designated ccp, was located, and its regulatory region was cloned into the promoter probe vector pLES94. Transcription from the ccp promoter was repressed during aerobic growth and induced during oxygen-limited growth and was totally FNR dependent, suggesting that the gonococcal FNR protein is a transcription activator of at least two genes. However, unlike AniA, synthesis of the CCP homologue was insensitive to the presence of nitrite during oxygen-limited growth.

Host factors that influence the behaviour of bacterial pathogens in vivo

Interest is increasing in how bacteria behave and produce virulence determinants within the infected host. There are three aspects of this process; observations on the bacteria themselves, recognition of host factors that affect them and investigation of metabolic interactions between the two. The first aspect is relatively easy to investigate and attracts much interest. The second and third are difficult to work on and hence understudied. The review aims to stimulate interest in them by indicating methods of investigation and describing some successful studies. After discussing host factors that determine growth in vivo consideration is given to factors that influence the production of the determinants of mucosal colonization, penetration, interference with host defence and damage to the host. The final section deals with the influence of host-derived cytidine 5'-monophospho-N-acetyl neuraminic acid and lactate on the pathogenicity of gonococci, meningococci and Haemophilus influenzae.

Questions about the behaviour of bacterial pathogens in vivo

Bacterial pathogens cause disease in man and animals. They have unique biological properties, which enable them to colonize mucous surfaces, penetrate them, grow in the environment of the host, inhibit or avoid host defences and damage the host. The bacterial products responsible for these five biological requirements are the determinants of pathogenicity (virulence determinants). Current knowledge comes from studies in vitro, but now interest is increasing in how bacteria behave and produce virulence determinants within the infected host. There are three aspects to elucidate: bacterial activities, the host factors that affect them and the metabolic interactions between the two. The first is relatively easy to accomplish and, recently, new methods for doing this have been devised. The second is not easy because of the complexity of the environment in vivo and its ever-changing face. Nevertheless, some information can be gained from the literature and by new methodology. The third aspect is very difficult to study effectively unless some events in vivo can be simulated in vitro. The objectives of the Discussion Meeting were to describe the new methods and to show how they, and conventional studies, are revealing the activities of bacterial pathogens in vivo. This paper sets the scene by raising some questions and suggesting, with examples, how they might be answered. Bacterial growth in vivo is the primary requirement for pathogenicity. Without growth, determinants of the other four requirements are not formed. Results from the new methods are underlining this point. The important questions are as follows. What is the pattern of a developing infection and the growth rates and population sizes of the bacteria at different stages? What nutrients are present in vivo and how do they change as infection progresses and relate to growth rates and population sizes? How are these nutrients metabolized and by what bacterial mechanisms? Which bacterial processes handle nutrient deficiencies and antagonistic conditions that may arise? Conventional and new methods can answer the first question and part of the second; examples are described. The difficulties of trying to answer the last two are discussed. Turning to production in vivo of determinants of mucosal colonization, penetration, interference with host defence and damage to the host, here are the crucial questions. Are putative determinants, which have been recognized by studies in vitro, produced in vivo and are they relevant to virulence? Can hitherto unknown virulence determinants be recognized by examining bacteria grown in vivo? Does the complement of virulence determinants change as infection proceeds? Are regulatory processes recognized in vitro, such as ToxR/ToxS, PhoP/PhoQ, quorum sensing and type III secretion, operative in vivo? What environmental factors affect virulence determinant production in vivo and by what metabolic processes? Examples indicate that the answers to the first four questions are 'yes' in most but not all cases. Attempts to answer the last, and most difficult, question are also described. Finally, sialylation of the lipopolysaccharide of gonococci in vivo by host-derived cytidine 5'-mono-phospho-N-acetyl neuraminic acid, and the effect of host lactate are described. This investigation revealed a new bacterial component important in pathogenicity, the host factors responsible for its production and the metabolism involved.

Uptake of metabolites by gonococci grown with lactate in a medium containing glucose: evidence for a surface location of the sialyltransferase

Promotion of uptake of essential metabolites is a possible reason for the general stimulation of gonococcal metabolism which is caused by lactate (1 mM) in a defined medium containing glucose (5 mM). However, although uptake of(14)C adenine by gonococci [strain BS4(agar)] held for 4 or 7 min at 37 degrees C in Hanks balanced salt solution was increased for lactate treated gonococci compared with control organisms, uptake of(14)C glucose and(14)C proline under these conditions was unaffected. Hence, there is no evidence that lactate produces general stimulation of metabolite uptake. Unlike the other metabolites, cytidine 5'-monophospho-(14)CN-acetyl neuraminic acid (CMP-(14)CNANA), the substrate for sialylation of gonococcal lipopolysaccharide (LPS), was adsorbed in substantial quantities by gonococci held on ice for 6 min. Also, the increase in uptake of CMP-(14)CNANA at 37 degrees C over that adsorbed at 0 degrees C was much smaller (less than two-fold) than for the other compounds (4-30-fold). The substantial adsorption at 0 degrees C suggested a surface receptor for CMP-(14)CNANA. It is probably the sialyltransferase because a sialyltransferase deficient mutant, JB1, did not absorb CMP-(14)CNANA at 0 degrees C or take it up at 37 degrees C, in contrast to its parent strain, F62, which behaved similarly to strain BS4 (agar). This supports previous evidence for a surface location of the sialyltransferase. There was a small increase in adsorption of CMP-(14)CNANA in lactate treated gonococci indicating a slight increase in the surface enzyme. This could enhance LPS sialylation and hence affect pathogenicity.