Background Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a gram negative diplococcus bacterium and the causative agent of the sexually transmitted disease Gonorrhea. It has been recently given the status of ‘superbug’ by World Health Organization because of the increasing antibiotic resistance and unavailability of a viable vaccine candidate targeted against this bacterium. Over the recent years, there have been increasing reports about the use of subtractive genomics to identify potential drug and vaccine targets.

Methods Hence, present study utilizes the knowledge of Codon biasing, a tool to identify the essential genes in N. gonorrhoeae that could be novel therapeutic targets for drug or vaccine development. Through the screening of a total of 2350 genes, we could shortlist 29 ‘essential’ genes from the complete gene set. This selection process was done through calculating CAI scores for individual genes. Through the data-mining of BLAST2GO and InterProScan databases, we could predict the function of these 29 genes.

Results All the selected 29 genes were involved in important cellular functions like DNA replication, energy synthesis and metabolites production. This study also shortlists the essential genes of N. gonorrhoeae that could be used to target Neisseria. We identified a molecule/drug which can be used as a target against essential protein DapD (succinyltransferase).

Conclusion To conclude, through subtractive genomics, we could identify 29 genes that seem to be essential for the survival of the bacteria Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Identification of these genes can be helpful in understanding the pathogenesis of the bacteria as well. Moreover some of these genes are excellent drug targets as these are essential for the growth of bacteria. The selected molecule ZINC06311339 promises hope for treating this pathogen after having validated through experimental study.

Disclosure No significant relationships.