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RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Neisseria species and their complicated relationships with human health

Charlene M Kahler
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

The Marshall Centre for Infectious Diseases, Research and Training, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia. Email: charlene.kahler@uwa.edu.au

Microbiology Australia 42(2) 79-83 https://doi.org/10.1071/MA21024
Submitted: 5 May 2021  Accepted: 18 May 2021   Published: 28 May 2021

Journal Compilation © The Authors 2021 Open Access CC BY-NC-ND, published (by CSIRO Publishing) on behalf of the ASM

Abstract

Neisseria spp. are a transient low abundance member of the human microbiome. This species contains the very well described pathogens, Neisseria gonorrhoeae and N. meningitidis. Recent advances in molecular typing have revealed that this genus is more diverse than previously thought and that commensal species may have important roles in inhibiting the growth the pathogens. This short review summates these new findings and examines the evidence that the relatively under-reported Neisseria commensal species maybe beneficial to human health.


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