Whole genome sequencing method for Neisseria gonorrhoeae using Oxford nanopore to detect antimicrobial resistance and aid epidemiology

Abstract

Neisseria gonorrhoeae is currently Scotland’s second most prevalent bacterial sexually transmitted infection (STI), with approximately 4,000 infections recorded during 2019. N. gonorrhoeae remains a national and global threat as the pathogen has developed resistance to ceftriaxone, which is the first-line treatment option available within the United Kingdom, so resistance poses a significant risk to the treatment of gonorrhoea. This creates a need for the development of a quick and accurate diagnostic tool for assisting in disease epidemiology and outbreak tracing to aid public health and patient management. The aim is to establish a whole genome sequencing (WGS) method using Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) to replace conventional sequencing with Sanger using N. gonorrhoeae multi-antigen sequencing typing (NG-MAST) and enable genotypic resistance detection.