Complete deletion of the <i>Chlamydia muridarum</i> putative cytotoxin locus reveals contributions during invasion in tissue culture and oviduct pathology during murine genital tract infection.

ABSTRACT: Chlamydiaceae is a family of obligate intracellular bacteria that infect a wide range of human and animal hosts. Chlamydia muridarum is a murine-specific species that has been leveraged as an efficacious model of disease mediated by human-specific Chlamydia trachomatis. Genes within the plasticity zone, a region of the chromosome with increased genetic variation across species and serovars, are speculated to contribute to species-specific pathogenesis. C. muridarum expresses three homologous proteins (TC0437-0439) that show similarity to large clostridial cytotoxins. The putative chlamydial cytotoxins have been proposed to mediate immediate toxicity in highly infected epithelial cells by interfering with actin polymerization. We utilized FRAEM mutagenesis to delete all

SUBMITTER: Berclaz LH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12519784 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature