This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Neisseria gonorrhoeae is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
| Neisseria gonorrhoeae | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Neisseria gonorrhoeae cultured on two different media types.
|
||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||
| Neisseria gonorrhoeae Zopf, 1885 |
Neisseria gonorrhoeae, also known as Gonococci (plural), or Gonococcus (singular), is a species of Gram-negative kidney bean-shaped diplococci bacteria responsible for the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhoea.[1]
Neisseria are fastidious cocci, requiring nutrient supplementation to grow in laboratory cultures. Specifically, they grow on Chocolate agar with carbon dioxide. These cocci are facultatively intracellular and typically appear in pairs (diplococci).
Gonorrhoea symptoms include a purulent (or pus-like) discharge from the genitals which may be foul smelling, a burning sensation during urination and conjunctivitis. Conjunctivitis is common in neonates and Silver nitrate is often applied to their eyes as a preventive measure against gonorrhoea. Neisseria is usually isolated on Thayer-Martin agar — an agar plate with three different antibiotics and nutrients which not only facilitate the growth of Neisseria species, but inhibit the growth of Gram-positive organisms and most bacilli and fungi. Further testing to differentiate the species includes testing for oxidase (all Neisseria show a positive reaction) and the carbohydrates maltose, sucrose, and glucose test in which N. gonorrhoeae will only oxidize (that is, utilize) the glucose.
If N. gonorrhoeae is resistant to the penicillin family of antibiotics, then ceftriaxone (a third-generation cephalosporin) is often used.
Patients should also be tested for Chlamydia infections, since co-infection is frequent.
See also: Neisseria meningitidis
References
- ^ Ryan KJ, Ray CG (editors) (2004). Sherris Medical Microbiology, 4th ed., McGraw Hill. ISBN 0838585299.
 |
This bacteria-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 4 September 2008, at 18:01.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Neisseria gonorrhoeae".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.