title: Recovery of an environmental Chlamydia strain from activated sludge by co-cultivation with Acanthamoeba sp.
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.
authors.affiliation: Division of Microbial Ecology, Institute for Ecology and Conservation Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstr. 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Astrid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Collingro
authors.affiliation: Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Hygiene, Universitätsklinik Ulm, Robert-Koch-Str. 8, 89081 Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Poppert
authors.affiliation: Division of Microbial Ecology, Institute for Ecology and Conservation Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstr. 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Heinz
authors.affiliation: Division of Microbial Ecology, Institute for Ecology and Conservation Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstr. 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schmitz-Esser
authors.affiliation: Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Hygiene, Universitätsklinik Ulm, Robert-Koch-Str. 8, 89081 Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Essig
authors.affiliation: Biological Institute, University Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70550 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schweikert
authors.affiliation: Division of Microbial Ecology, Institute for Ecology and Conservation Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstr. 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.affiliation: Division of Microbial Ecology, Institute for Ecology and Conservation Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstr. 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Horn
mesh_terms: D000048:Acanthamoeba / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000382:microbiology*; D000818:Animals; D002695:Chlamydiales / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000032:analysis; D020459:Genes, rRNA; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology*; D014709:Vero Cells
chemical_list: D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D012722:Sewage