A rapid method for the detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, making use of the ability of deoxyribonucleic acid samples from clinically isolated strains of this organism to transform nutritional mutants of a particular strain of N. gonorrhoeae, has been described. In addition to using isolated cultures, transforming deoxyribonucleic acid can be obtained directly from the material that adheres to swabs of the cervix or the urethra. The time interval for transfer of swabs to the diagnostic laboratory is not a significant factor. It is not necessary to use pure cultures on primary isolation plates to obtain definitive results. Nongonorrhoeae neisserias, as well as a large variety of commonly encountered unrelated bacteria, do not react or interfere in the transformation assay when using one of the mutant strains under a standardized set of conditions. The entire assay can be completed in less than 24 h. It has also been shown that type T4 cells of the strain of N. gonorrhoeae employed in the present study are competent for genetic transformation, although type T4 cells are transformed at a significantly lower frequency than are type T2 cells of the same strain.
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