Chlamydia Genomics
Vítor Borges, Patrick Hyden, João Paulo Gomes and Thomas Rattei
from: Chlamydia Biology: From Genome to Disease (Edited by: Ming Tan, Johannes H. Hegemann and Christine Sütterlin). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2020) Pages: 263-286.
Abstract
The field of Chlamydia genomics has seen a rampant development, from the very first release of the whole genome sequence of a C. trachomatis strain to the current availability of hundreds of genomes from multiple Chlamydia species. While this scientific advance has revealed fascinating patterns of adaptation to the intracellular environment, it has also disclosed the main genetic mechanisms driving Chlamydia evolution as well as many genes of unknown function that lack orthologs in the microbial world. It has allowed advances not only in the understanding of fundamental aspects of the epidemiology and biology of these unique intracellular bacteria but also in deciphering the molecular basis of phenotypic differences, such as host and tissue tropism, invasiveness and ecological success. Improvements and decreased cost of next-generation sequencing are coupled with advances in mutagenesis and proteome and transcriptome profiling. There is a critical need for multidisciplinary efforts to gain insights into the biological role of specific genes, to identify the within-patient Chlamydia adaptive traits during infection, and to decipher the Chlamydia-host interactive players that may ultimately lead to the development of new therapies read more ...
