Diverse Stress-Inducing Treatments cause Distinct Aberrant Body Morphologies in the Chlamydia-Related Bacterium, Waddlia chondrophila.

ABSTRACT: Chlamydiae, such as Chlamydia trachomatis and Chlamydia pneumoniae, can cause chronic infections. It is believed that persistent forms called aberrant bodies (ABs) might be involved in this process. AB formation seems to be a common trait of all members of the Chlamydiales order and is caused by distinct stress stimuli, such as β-lactam antibiotics or nutrient starvation. While the diverse stimuli inducing ABs are well described, no comprehensive morphological characterization has been performed in Chlamydiales up to now. We thus infected mammalian cells with the Chlamydia-related bacterium Waddlia chondrophila and induced AB formation using different stimuli. Their morphology, differences in DNA content and in gene expression were assessed by immunofluorescence, quantitative PCR, and reve

SUBMITTER: Scherler A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7022761 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature