title: A snapshot of Chlamydia trachomatis genetic diversity using multilocus sequence type analysis in an Australian metropolitan setting.
abstract: High-resolution screening methodologies which enable the differentiation of Chlamydia trachomatis at the strain level, directly from clinical samples, can provide the detailed information required for epidemiological questions such as the dynamics of treatment failure. In addition, they give a detailed snapshot of circulating C. trachomatis genetic variation, data which are currently lacking for the Australian population. In the context of two Australian clinical trials, we assessed the genetic diversity of C. trachomatis and compared these to strains circulating globally. We used high-resolution multilocus sequence typing (MLST) of five highly variable genetic regions of C. trachomatis to examine variation in Australia. Samples with established genovars were drawn from a pool of 880 C. trachomatis-positive samples from two clinical studies, whereby 76 sample pairs which remained C. trachomatis-positive for the same genovar after treatment underwent MLST analysis to distinguish between treatment failure and reinfection. MLST analysis revealed a total of 25 sequence types (STs), six new allele variants and seven new STs not described anywhere else in the world, when compared to those in the international C. trachomatis MLST database. Of the eight most common global STs, seven were found in Australia (four derived from men who have sex with men (MSM) and three from heterosexuals). Newly identified STs were predominantly found in samples from the MSM population. In conclusion, MLST provided a diverse C. trachomatis strain profile, with novel circulating STs, and could be used to identify local sexual networks to focus on interventions such as testing and partner notification to prevent reinfection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, The Royal Women's Hospital, Locked Bag 300, Parkville, 3052, VIC, Australia. jennifer.danielewski@mcri.edu.au.|Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. jennifer.danielewski@mcri.edu.au.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Danielewski
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, The Royal Women's Hospital, Locked Bag 300, Parkville, 3052, VIC, Australia.|Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.affiliation: Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: F Y S
authors.initials: FYS
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: The Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Hocking
authors.affiliation: The Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Guy
authors.affiliation: Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, Alfred Health, Carlton, VIC, Australia.|Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Fairley
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, The Royal Women's Hospital, Locked Bag 300, Parkville, 3052, VIC, Australia.|Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Garland
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, The Royal Women's Hospital, Locked Bag 300, Parkville, 3052, VIC, Australia.|Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: S N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Tabrizi
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D002692:Chlamydia trachomatis / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D014505:Urban Population