Auxotypes of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in Toronto: relationship to penicillin resistance and to sex of patient.

The relationship of auxotype to penicillinase production, penicillin susceptibility, and sex of the patient, has been studied in 8446 non-penicillinase-producing and 153 penicillinase-producing Neisseria gonorrhoeae (PPNG) strains isolated during 1980-1983 in Toronto. Proline-requiring types constituted 51% of the PPNG and 13% of the non-PPNG strains; ornithine-requiring types constituted only 4% of the PPNG compared with 12% of the non-PPNG isolates. The various auxotypes of the non-PPNG isolates showed marked differences in their degree of resistance to penicillin; and the proportions of each auxotype from male and female patients were dissimilar.