Neisseria gonorrhoeae drives Chlamydia trachomatis into a persistence-like state during in vitro co-infection.

ABSTRACT: Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae are the most prevalent bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STIs) globally. Despite frequent co-infections in patients, few studies have investigated how mono-infections may differ from co-infections. We hypothesized that a symbiotic relationship between the pathogens could account for the high rates of clinical co-infection. During in vitro co-infection, we observed an unexpected phenotype where the C. trachomatis developmental cycle was impaired by N. gonorrhoeae. C. trachomatis is an obligate intracellular pathogen with a unique biphasic developmental cycle progressing from infectious elementary bodies (EB) to replicative reticulate bodies (RB), and back. After 12 hours of co-infection, we observed

SUBMITTER: Ball LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10790821 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature