Prediction of Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations of Antimicrobials for Neisseria gonorrhoeae Using Whole-Genome Sequencing.

Bacterial whole-genome sequencing is now increasingly available to researchers, reference laboratories and individual healthcare institutions. It can be possible to predict antimicrobial minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for Neisseria gonorrhoeae using sequencing data, for many antimicrobials within one or two MIC doubling dilutions of the phenotypic value. With emerging rapid sequencing technologies, it may be possible in future to predict antimicrobial resistance faster than existing culture-based methods. Sequencing also provides insights into the genetic mechanisms underlying antimicrobial resistance, their spread in time and space, as well as the molecular epidemiology of the gonococcal strains.