Project description:To determine the role that GrgA plays in chlamydial physiology, we constructed a Chlamydia trachomatis mutant that we term L/cgad-peig, in which the chromosomal grgA (ctl0766 or ct504) has been disrupted by Targetron mutagenesis, and the plasmid carries an inducible grgA under the control of anhydrotetracycline (ATC). RNA-Seq analysis was performed for L2/cgad-peig grown with and without ATC.
Project description:The obligate intracellular developmental cycle of Chlamydia trachomatis presents significant challenges in defining its proteome. In this study we have applied quantitative proteomics to both the intracellular reticulate body (RB) and the extracellular elementary body (EB) from C. trachomatis. We used C. trachomatis L2 which is a model chlamydial isolate for such a study since it has a high infectivity: particle ratio and there is an excellent quality genome sequence. EBs and RBs (>99% pure) were quantified by chromosomal and plasmid copy number using PCR to determine the concentrations of chlamydial proteins per bacterial cell. RBs harvested at 15h post infection (PI) were purified by three successive rounds of gradient centrifugation. This is the earliest possible time to obtain purified RBs, free from host cell components in quantity, within the constraints of the technology, EBs were purified at 48h PI. We then used two-dimensional reverse phase UPLC to fractionate RB or EB peptides before mass spectroscopic analysis, providing absolute amount estimates of chlamydial proteins.
Project description:C. trachomatis possess a cryptic 7.5 kb plasmid of unknown function. Here we describe a comprehensive molecular and biological characterization of the naturally occurring plasmidless human Chlamydia trachomatis strain L2 (25667R). We found that despite minimal chromosomal polymorphisms the LGV L2 (25667R) strain was indistinguishable from the L2 (434) plasmid positive strain in its in vitro infectivity characteristics such as growth kinetics, plaquing efficiency, and plaque size. The primary in vitro phenotypic differences between L2 (434) and L2 (25667R) were the accumulation of glycogen granules in the inclusion matrix and the lack of the typical intra-inclusion Brownian-like movement characteristic of C. trachomatis strains. Conversely, we observed a marked difference between the two strains in their ability to colonize and infect the female mouse genital tract. The ID50 of the L2 (25667R) plasmidless strain was 500 fold greater (1.XX x 10X IFU) than the L2 (434) plasmid bearing strain (1. XX x 10X IFU). Transcriptome analysis of the two strains clearly demonstrated a decrease in transcript levels of a subset of chromosomal genes for the L2 (25667R) strain. Among those genes was glgA which encodes for glycogen synthase; a finding consistent with the failure of the L2 (25667R) strain to accumulate glycogen granules. Collectively, these findings support an important role for the plasmid in in vivo infectivity and suggest that this virulence characteristic might be controlled by the plasmids ability to regulate the expression of specific chromosomal genes. These results also support an important role for the plasmid in the pathogenesis of human infection and disease. Keywords: strain comparison C. trachomatis strain L2-25667R compared to strain L2-434
Project description:Chlamydia trachomatis is an important human pathogen that replicates inside the infected host cell in a unique vacuole, the inclusion. The formation of this intracellular bacterial niche is essential for productive Chlamydia infections. Despite its importance for Chlamydia biology, a holistic view on the protein composition of the inclusion, including its membrane, is currently missing. Here we describe a newly established method to purify inclusions from C. trachomatis infected epithelial cells and the analysis of the host cell-derived proteome by a combination of label free and stable isotope labeling -based quantitative proteomics. Computational analysis of the proteome data indicated that the inclusion is a complex intracellular trafficking platform that interacts with host cells' antero- and retrograde trafficking pathways. Furthermore, the inclusion is highly enriched for sorting nexins of the SNX-BAR retromer, a complex essential for retrograde trafficking. Functional studies showed that in particular SNX5 controls the C. trachomatis infection and that retrograde trafficking is essential for infectious progeny formation. In summary, our findings suggest that the inclusion of C. trachomatis is well embedded in the hosts' endomembrane system and hijacks retrograde trafficking pathways for effective infection.
Project description:The obligate intracellular bacterium Chlamydia has a unique developmental cycle that alternates between two contrasting cell types. With a hardy envelope and highly condensed genome, the small elementary body (EB) maintains limited metabolic activities yet can survive in an extracellular environment and is infectious. After entering host cells, EBs differentiate into larger and proliferating reticulate bodies (RBs). Progeny EBs are derived from RBs in late developmental stages and eventually exit host cells. How the expression of the chlamydial genome consisting of nearly 1000 genes governs the chlamydial developmental cycle is unclear. A previous microarray study identified only 29 immediately early genes, defined as genes activated by the first hour postinoculation, in C. trachomatis. By performing RNA sequencing analysis for C. trachomatis cultures with high multiplicities of infection (i.e., MOI of 50 and 200), we observed that 730 C. trachomatis genes underwent 2- to 900-fold activation within one hour postinoculation. By conducting quantitative reverse transcription real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis for 48 of the 730 genes using an MOI of 1, we confirmed the expression increases in 46 genes. Our results demonstrate that the immediate early transcriptome is tens of times more extensive than previously realized. Gene ontology analysis indicates that the activation spans across all functional categories. We conclude that a supermajority of the C. trachomatis genes are activated almost immediately after EBs are inside host cells to initiate the differentiation toward RBs and to establish an intracellular niche conducive for chlamydial development and growth. RNA-Seq analysis was performed for Chlamydia trachomatis L2