Virulence determinants in the obligate intracellular pathogen Chlamydia trachomatis revealed by forward genetic approaches

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Jan 24;109(4):1263-8. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1117884109. Epub 2012 Jan 9.

Abstract

Chlamydia trachomatis, a pathogen responsible for diseases of significant clinical and public health importance, remains poorly characterized because of its intractability to routine molecular genetic manipulation. We have developed a combinatorial approach to rapidly generate a comprehensive library of genetically defined mutants. Chemical mutagenesis, coupled with whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and a system for DNA exchange within infected cells, was used to generate Chlamydia mutants with distinct phenotypes, map the underlying genetic lesions, and generate isogenic strains. As a result, we identified mutants with altered glycogen metabolism, including an attenuated strain defective for type II secretion. The coupling of chemically induced gene variation and WGS to establish genotype-phenotype associations should be broadly applicable to the large list of medically and environmentally important microorganisms currently intractable to genetic analysis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Base Sequence
  • Chlamydia trachomatis / genetics*
  • Chlamydia trachomatis / pathogenicity*
  • Chlorocebus aethiops
  • Gene Library*
  • Genetic Techniques*
  • Genomics / methods
  • Genotype
  • HeLa Cells
  • Humans
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Microscopy, Electron, Transmission
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Mutagenesis / genetics
  • Phenotype*
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / genetics
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA / methods
  • Vero Cells
  • Virulence Factors / genetics*

Substances

  • Virulence Factors