A droplet digital PCR assay to measure pilin antigenic variation frequency in <i>Neisseria gonorrhoeae</i>

Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted infectious disease of the human genital and nasopharyngeal mucosa caused by the host-restricted bacterium <i>Neisseria gonorrhoeae</i>. The rise of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea is an urgent global threat to public health. Pilus antigenic variation is a gene conversion process that allows <i>N. gonorrhoeae</i> to evade host immune surveillance, and a mechanistic understanding of this process is crucial to understanding <i>N. gonorrhoeae</i> pathogenesis. This report shows that we can adopt a digital PCR methodology to quickly and accurately measure pilin antigenic variation.