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Obligate intracellular bacterial parasites of acanthamoebae related to Chlamydia spp.

ABSTRACT: The phylogeny of obligate intracellular coccoid parasites of acanthamoebae isolated from the nasal mucosa of humans was analyzed by the rRNA approach. The primary structures of the 16S and 23S rRNA molecules of one strain were determined in almost full length. In situ hybridization with a horseradish peroxidase-labeled oligonucleotide probe targeted to a unique signature site undoubtedly correlated the retrieved 16S rRNA sequence to the respective intracellular parasite. This probe also hybridized with the second strain, suggesting a close relationship between the two intracellular parasites. Comparative sequence analysis demonstrated a distinct relationship to the genus Chlamydia. With 16S rRNA similarities of 86 to 87% to the hitherto-sequenced Chlamydia species, the intracellular parasites are likely not new species of this genus but representatives of another genus in the family of the Chlamydiaceae. Consequently, it is proposed to provisionally classify the endoparasite of Acanthamoeba sp. strain Bn9 as "Candidatus Parachlamydia acanthamoebae." From an epidemiological perspective, the results suggest that small amoebae could be environmental reservoirs and vectors for a variety of potentially pathogenic bacteria including members of the Chlamydiaceae.

SUBMITTER: Amann R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC168308 | biostudies-other | 1997 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Obligate intracellular bacterial parasites of acanthamoebae related to Chlamydia spp.

Amann R R Springer N N Schönhuber W W Ludwig W W Schmid E N EN Müller K D KD Michel R R

Applied and environmental microbiology 19970101 1

The phylogeny of obligate intracellular coccoid parasites of acanthamoebae isolated from the nasal mucosa of humans was analyzed by the rRNA approach. The primary structures of the 16S and 23S rRNA molecules of one strain were determined in almost full length. In situ hybridization with a horseradish peroxidase-labeled oligonucleotide probe targeted to a unique signature site undoubtedly correlated the retrieved 16S rRNA sequence to the respective intracellular parasite. This probe also hybridiz ...[more]

PMID: 8979345

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Project description:BackgroundThe obligate intracellular growing bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis causes diseases like trachoma, urogenital infection and lymphogranuloma venereum with severe morbidity. Several serovars and genotypes have been identified, but these could not be linked to clinical disease or outcome. The related Chlamydophila pneumoniae, of which no subtypes are recognized, causes respiratory infections worldwide. We developed a multi locus sequence typing (MLST) scheme to understand the population genetic structure and diversity of these species and to evaluate the association between genotype and disease.ResultsA collection of 26 strains of C. trachomatis of different serovars and clinical presentation and 18 strains of C. pneumoniae were included in the study. For comparison, sequences of C. abortus, C. psittaci, C. caviae, C. felis, C. pecorum (Chlamydophila), C. muridarum (Chlamydia) and of Candidatus protochlamydia and Simkania negevensis were also included. Sequences of fragments (400 - 500 base pairs) from seven housekeeping genes (enoA, fumC, gatA, gidA, hemN, hlfX, oppA) were analysed. Analysis of allelic profiles by eBurst revealed three non-overlapping clonal complexes among the C. trachomatis strains, while the C. pneumoniae strains formed a single group. An UPGMA tree produced from the allelic profiles resulted in three groups of sequence types. The LGV strains grouped in a single cluster, while the urogenital strains were distributed over two separated groups, one consisted solely of strains with frequent occurring serovars (E, D and F). The distribution of the different serovars over the three groups was not consistent, suggesting exchange of serovar encoding ompA sequences. In one instance, exchange of fumC sequences between strains of different groups was observed. Cluster analyses of concatenated sequences of the Chlamydophila and Chlamydia species together with those of Candidatus Protochlamydia amoebophila and Simkania negevensis resulted in a tree identical to that obtained with 23S RNA gene sequences.ConclusionThese data show that C. trachomatis and C. pneumoniae are highly uniform. The difference in genetic diversity between C. trachomatis and C. pneumoniae is in concordance with a later assimilation to the human host of the latter. Our data supports the taxonomy of the order of Chlamydiales.

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Obligate intracellular bacterial parasites of acanthamoebae related to Chlamydia spp.

Publications

Obligate intracellular bacterial parasites of acanthamoebae related to Chlamydia spp.

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