Recovery of an environmental chlamydia strain from activated sludge by co-cultivation with Acanthamoeba sp

Author(s): Astrid Horn, Sven Poppert, Eva Heinz, Stephan Schmitz-Esser, Andreas Essig, M Schweikert, Michael Wagner, Matthias Horn
Abstract: Chlamydiae are a unique group of obligate intracellular bacteria comprising important pathogens of vertebrates as well as symbionts of free-living amoebae. Although there is ample molecular evidence for a huge diversity and wide distribution of chlamydiae in nature, environmental chlamydiae are currently represented by only few isolates. This paper reports the recovery of a novel environmental chlamydia strain from activated sludge by co-cultivation with Acanthamoeba sp. The recovered environmental chlamydia strain UV-7 showed the characteristic morphology of chlamydial developmental stages as revealed by electron microscopy and was identified as a new member of the family Parachlamydiaceae (98.7 % 16S rRNA sequence similarity to Parachlamydia acanthamoebae). Infection studies suggested that Parachlamydia sp. UV-7 is not confined to amoeba hosts but is also able to invade mammalian cells. These findings outline a new straightforward approach to retrieving environmental chlamydiae from nature without prior, tedious isolation and cultivation of their natural host cells, and lend further support to suggested implications of environmental chlamydiae for public health. Œ 2005 SGM.
Organisation(s)
External organisation(s): Universität Ulm, Universität Stuttgart
Journal: Microbiology
Volume: 151
Pages: 301-309
No. of pages: 9
ISSN: 1350-0872
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.27406-0
Publication date: 2005
Peer reviewed: Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012: 1060 Biology
Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
Portal url: https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/recovery-of-an-environmental-chlamydia-strain-from-activated-sludge-by-cocultivation-with-acanthamoeba-sp(4a22cf5a-05e7-415d-b344-3532c6f5c0d8).html