title: Chlamydia trachomatis: small genome, big challenges.
abstract: Chlamydial infections are highly newsworthy, but basic research into Chlamydia trachomatis is severely hampered by a series of formidable technical barriers. This has resulted in a paucity of information with respect to the genetics and population structure of these recalcitrant bacteria. Here we present a review of what is currently known about the genomics of C. trachomatis and discuss the usefulness of molecular typing systems and the prospects of developing a pan-chlamydial genome resource.
authors.affiliation: The Pathogen Sequencing Unit, The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK. nrt@sanger.ac.uk
authors.forename: Nicholas R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Thomson
authors.forename: Ian N
authors.initials: IN
authors.lastname: Clarke
mesh_terms: D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D002692:Chlamydia trachomatis / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans