Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 24, 2026

A Murine Model of Group B Streptococcus Vaginal Colonization
10:19

A Murine Model of Group B Streptococcus Vaginal Colonization

Published on: November 16, 2016

15.0K

A Natural Mouse Model for Neisseria Persistent Colonization

Katherine Rhodes1, Mancheong Ma1, Magdalene So2

  • 1Department of Immunobiology, BIO5 Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.

Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton, N.J.)
|May 24, 2019
PubMed

Insights

A new mouse model uses Neisseria musculi to study asymptomatic Neisseria colonization. This system allows researchers to investigate host-pathogen interactions and develop vaccines for persistent bacterial infections.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Immunology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Commensal Neisseria species are important in host-microbe interactions but challenging to study in vivo.
  • Previous models faced host restriction barriers, limiting research into Neisseria's behavior within a living organism.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop a natural mouse model for studying persistent colonization by commensal Neisseria.
  • To enable the dissection of host and bacterial factors contributing to asymptomatic colonization.
  • To provide a platform for investigating the in vivo function of shared Neisseria genes and for vaccine development.

Main Methods:

  • Coupling laboratory mice with Neisseria musculi (Nmus), a commensal bacterium found in wild mice.
  • Utilizing noninvasive inoculation procedures.
  • Observing bacterial burdens in colonized mice for up to one year post-inoculation.

Main Results:

  • The Nmus-mouse model circumvents host restriction barriers, allowing for in vivo study of Neisseria.
  • Asymptomatic colonization by Nmus is achievable and can persist for up to one year.
  • Susceptibility to Nmus colonization demonstrates variation based on host genetic background.

Conclusions:

  • This natural mouse model offers a novel system for studying persistent Neisseria colonization and host-microbe interactions.
  • The model facilitates research into the in vivo roles of Neisseria host interaction factors and potential vaccine targets.
  • The genetic tractability of Nmus enhances its utility for future research and therapeutic development.
Keywords:
Colonization and persistenceCommensal NeisseriaMouse modelPathogenic Neisseria

More Related Videos

A Method to Define the Effects of Environmental Enrichment on Colon Microbiome Biodiversity in a Mouse Colon Tumor Model08:14

A Method to Define the Effects of Environmental Enrichment on Colon Microbiome Biodiversity in a Mouse Colon Tumor Model

Published on: February 28, 2018

9.3K
Modeling Persistent Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infection in Wounded Zebrafish Larvae06:04

Modeling Persistent Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infection in Wounded Zebrafish Larvae

Published on: June 13, 2025

616

Related Concept Videos

The Colonization of Land02:22

The Colonization of Land

Changes in the environment of the early Earth drove the evolution of organisms. As prokaryotic organisms in the oceans began to photosynthesize, they produced oxygen. Eventually, oxygen saturated the oceans and entered the air, resulting in an increase in atmospheric oxygen concentration, known as the oxygen revolution approximately 2.3 billion years ago. Therefore, organisms that could use oxygen for cellular respiration had an advantage. More than 1.5 years ago, eukaryotic cells and...
37.5K
What is Natural Selection?01:32

What is Natural Selection?

Natural selection is an evolutionary process in which individuals with survival-promoting traits reproduce at higher rates. These favorable traits become more common within a population or species. Naturally selected traits initially arise via random genetic mutations. In order for selection to occur, there must be variation within a population, the trait controlling the variation must be heritable, and there must be an evolutionary advantage for variation in the trait.
126.4K
Nature and Nurture01:10

Nature and Nurture

Many human characteristics, like height, are shaped by both nature—in other words, by our genes—and by nurture, or our environment. For example, chronic stress during childhood inhibits the production of growth hormones and consequently reduces bone growth and height. Scientists estimate that 70-90% of variation in height is due to genetic differences among individuals, and 10-30% of variation in height is due to differences in the environments that individuals experience,...
22.2K
Chirality in Nature02:30

Chirality in Nature

Chirality is the most intriguing yet essential facet of nature, governing life’s biochemical processes and precision. It can be observed from a snail shell pattern in a macroscopic world to an amino acid, the minutest building block of life. Most of the snails around the world have right-coiled shells because of the intrinsic chirality in their genes. All the amino acids present in the human body exist in an enantiomerically pure state, except for glycine - the sole achiral amino acid.
16.9K
The Wave Nature of Light02:12

The Wave Nature of Light

The nature of light has been a subject of inquiry since antiquity. In the seventeenth century, Isaac Newton performed experiments with lenses and prisms and was able to demonstrate that white light consists of the individual colors of the rainbow combined together. Newton explained his optics findings in terms of a "corpuscular" view of light, in which light was composed of streams of extremely tiny particles traveling at high speeds according to Newton's laws of motion.
61.1K
Limits to Natural Selection01:38

Limits to Natural Selection

Organisms that are well-adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce. However, natural selection does not lead to perfectly adapted organisms. Several factors constrain natural selection.
34.2K