Neisseria gonorrhoeae Reference (NG)

(New name, same panel)*

The Neisseria gonorrhoeae (gonococcal, Ng) strains in this panel are intended for use as quality control and quality assurance in diagnostic and research laboratory testing: i) for phenotypic (e.g., antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) and species identification) and for genotypic (e.g., molecular antimicrobial resistance detection and molecular epidemiology) characterizations, and ii) as characterized, annotated, and complete reference genomes for whole genome sequencing analysis, transcriptomics, proteomics, and other molecular technologies and data analysis. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of the reference gonococcal strains in this panel were established and published by the Unemo et al. (2016) ^# group using gradient strip AST. 

The MICs posted on this website were generated by agar dilution AST. For gradient strip AST comparisons, please use the consensus MICs published by Unemo et al. (2016).^#

*April 1, 2025

Neisseria gonorrhoeae Reference Isolates is the new name of a pre-existing panel, with similar name, provided through the AR Isolate Bank. The identification (ID) convention for the isolates in this panel has also changed. The changes are applicable only to the naming of the panel and the isolate IDs. The changes do not affect the physical characteristics of any reference gonococcal strains in this panel. The changes are as follow:

        i)           New name for this panel is Neisseria gonorrhoeae Reference Isolates.

      ii)           New isolate IDs are NG-F, NG-G, NG-K, NG-L, NG-M, NG-N, NG-O, NG-P, NG-U, NG-V, NG-W, NG-X, NG-Y, and NG-Z.

The ‘unique letter’ designation in the isolate IDs (F, G, K, L, M, N, O, P, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z) is transferred over from the previous panel’s isolate IDs for each isolate (i.e., the ‘new’ Z is the same strain as the ‘old’ Z). The AR Isolate Bank Number for the gonococcal strains in this panel are retained and could be used to link back to the previous naming convention for each isolate. Lastly, the ‘unique letter’ in the isolate IDs corresponds to the same strain with the same letter assignment published by Unemo et.al. (2016)^#. For questions, or to request additional information about this announcement, please contact the CDC & FDA AR Isolate Bank via email at ARbank@cdc.gov.

^#https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5079299/