Neisseria meningitidis is a causative agent of meningitis, and is responsible for considerable morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Most disease-causing N. meningitidis strains belong to serogroups A, B and C. Serogroup A strains are responsible for epidemic disease in developing countries, and serogroup B and C strains are responsible for outbreaks of menigitis in the developed world.
The Sanger Institute has been funded by the Wellcome Trust/Beowulf Genomics to sequence the genomes of strains from serogroups A and C:
Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A strain Z2491and
Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C strain FAM18 Further information on meningitis can be obtained from The Meningitis Research Foundation and the National Meningitis Trust.
SEM picture of N. meningitidis courtesy of Xavier Nassif
