Characteristics of atypical Neisseria gonorrhoeae from disseminated and localized infections.

Approximately 6% of 1,200 clinical isolates of Neisseria gonorrhoeae were atypical because they produced smaller than normal colonies on conventioal chocolate agar and fermented glucose weakly. Auxotyping studies indicated that these atypical strains required for growth arginine, uracil, and, in most instances, hypoxanthine. In addition, all of them were susceptible to 0.02 U of penicillin/ml. None of the normal colony isolates, including those susceptible to the same low concentration of penicillin, had the same nutritional characteristics. Atypical strains comprised almost half of the isolates from disseminated infections, but only 5% of those from localized infections. Auxotyping was used to identify the contact of a patient who became reinfected nine times with an atypical gonoccal strain. In addition to its usefulness in such epidemiological studies, this technique has enabled us to distinguish a subgroup of gonococci with apparent increased pathogenicity.