Protochlamydia phocaeensis sp. nov., a new Chlamydiales species with host dependent replication cycle

Publication date: Available online 7 March 2017
Source:Microbes and Infection
Author(s): Jacques Y. Bou Khalil, Samia Benamar, Fabrizio Di Pinto, Caroline Blanc-Tailleur, Didier Raoult, Bernard La Scola
Chlamydiae are pathogenic and symbiotic bacteria, which form an important part of amoeba-associated microorganisms. In this paper, we report the isolation, developmental cycle and genome analysis of Protochlamydia phocaeensis sp. nov., an obligate intracellular parasite with a large host spectrum, able to infect Acanthamoeba castellanii, Acanthamoeba polyphaga, and Vermamoeba vermiformis. The genome size is 3,424,182 bp with a GC content of 42 %. This bacterium displayed a particular developmental cycle depending on the infected host. The P. phocaeensis showed typical inclusion vacuoles in A. castellanii, while these were absent in Vermamoeba. vermiformis. Since "Chlamydiae – amoebae" interactions are supposed to depend on the chlamydial species, our findings speculate that variations in the developmental cycle of certain Chlamydiae is also host dependent.



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