Identification of Neisseria gonorrhoeae by genetic transformation: a clinical laboratory evaluation.

Transformation of a Neisseria gonorrhoeae auxotroph (uracil and arginine deficient) to prototrophy was attempted with wild-type deoxyribonucleic acid from 71 random clinical N. gonorrhoeae cultures. Of these 71 cultures, 97.1% transformed the nutritionally deficient mutant to prototrophy. The procedure was reliable and economical and offered several distinct advantages over other methods used for the confirmation of N. gonorrhoeae.