Previous Article | Next Article 
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2000, p. 2613-2619, Vol. 66, No. 6
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Phylogenetic Diversity among Geographically
Dispersed Chlamydiales Endosymbionts Recovered from Clinical
and Environmental Isolates of Acanthamoeba spp.
Thomas R.
Fritsche,1,*
Matthias
Horn,2
Michael
Wagner,2
Russell P.
Herwig,3
Karl-Heinz
Schleifer,2 and
Romesh
K.
Gautom4
Department of Laboratory
Medicine1 and School of
Fisheries,3 University of Washington, Seattle,
Washington 98195; Lehrstuhl für Mikrobiologie, Technische
Universität München, 85350 Freising,
Germany2; and Washington State
Public Health Laboratory, Seattle, Washington
981554
Received 22 September 1999/Accepted 8 March 2000
The recently proposed reorganization of the order
Chlamydiales and description of new taxa are broadening our
perception of this once narrowly defined taxon. We have recovered four
strains of gram-negative cocci endosymbiotic in
Acanthamoeba spp., representing 5% of the
Acanthamoeba sp. isolates examined, which displayed developmental life cycles typical of members of the
Chlamydiales. One of these endosymbiont strains was found
stably infecting an amoebic isolate recovered from a case of amoebic
keratitis in North America, with three others found in acanthamoebae
recovered from environmental sources in North America (two isolates)
and Europe (one isolate). Analyses of nearly full-length 16S rRNA gene
sequences of these isolates by neighbor joining, parsimony, and
distance matrix methods revealed their clustering with other members of
the Chlamydiales but in a lineage separate from those of
the genera Chlamydia, Chlamydophila,
Simkania, and Waddlia (sequence similarities,
<88%) and including the recently described species
Parachlamydia acanthamoebae (sequence similarities, 91.2 to
93.1%). With sequence similarities to each other of 91.4 to 99.4%,
these four isolates of intra-amoebal endosymbionts may represent three
distinct species and, perhaps, new genera within the recently proposed
family Parachlamydiaceae. Fluorescently labeled
oligonucleotide probes targeted to 16S rRNA signature regions were able
to readily differentiate two groups of intra-amoebal endosymbionts
which corresponded to two phylogenetic lineages. These results reveal
significant phylogenetic diversity occurring among the
Chlamydiales in nontraditional host species and supports the existence of a large environmental reservoir of related species. Considering that all described species of Chlamydiales are
known to be pathogenic, further investigation of intra-amoebal
parachlamydiae as disease-producing agents is warranted.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Laboratory Medicine, University of Washington, 1959 N.E. Pacific St., Seattle, WA 98195-7110. Phone: (206) 598-6131. Fax: (206) 598-6189. E-mail: fritsche{at}u.washington.edu.
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2000, p. 2613-2619, Vol. 66, No. 6
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
This article has been cited by other articles:
-
Matsuo, J., Hayashi, Y., Nakamura, S., Sato, M., Mizutani, Y., Asaka, M., Yamaguchi, H.
(2008). Novel Parachlamydia acanthamoebae Quantification Method Based on Coculture with Amoebae. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
74: 6397-6404
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Schmitz-Esser, S., Toenshoff, E. R., Haider, S., Heinz, E., Hoenninger, V. M., Wagner, M., Horn, M.
(2008). Diversity of Bacterial Endosymbionts of Environmental Acanthamoeba Isolates. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
74: 5822-5831
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Corsaro, D., Greub, G.
(2006). Pathogenic Potential of Novel Chlamydiae and Diagnostic Approaches to Infections Due to These Obligate Intracellular Bacteria. Clin. Microbiol. Rev.
19: 283-297
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Collingro, A., Toenshoff, E. R., Taylor, M. W., Fritsche, T. R., Wagner, M., Horn, M.
(2005). 'Candidatus Protochlamydia amoebophila', an endosymbiont of Acanthamoeba spp.. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol.
55: 1863-1866
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Griffiths, E., Petrich, A. K., Gupta, R. S.
(2005). Conserved indels in essential proteins that are distinctive characteristics of Chlamydiales and provide novel means for their identification. Microbiology
151: 2647-2657
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Everett, K. D. E., Thao, M., Horn, M., Dyszynski, G. E., Baumann, P.
(2005). Novel chlamydiae in whiteflies and scale insects: endosymbionts 'Candidatus Fritschea bemisiae' strain Falk and 'Candidatus Fritschea eriococci' strain Elm. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol.
55: 1581-1587
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Molmeret, M., Horn, M., Wagner, M., Santic, M., Abu Kwaik, Y.
(2005). Amoebae as Training Grounds for Intracellular Bacterial Pathogens. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
71: 20-28
[Full Text]
-
Collingro, A., Poppert, S., Heinz, E., Schmitz-Esser, S., Essig, A., Schweikert, M., Wagner, M., Horn, M.
(2005). Recovery of an environmental chlamydia strain from activated sludge by co-cultivation with Acanthamoeba sp.. Microbiology
151: 301-309
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Draghi, A. II, Popov, V. L., Kahl, M. M., Stanton, J. B., Brown, C. C., Tsongalis, G. J., West, A. B., Frasca, S. Jr.
(2004). Characterization of "Candidatus Piscichlamydia salmonis" (Order Chlamydiales), a Chlamydia-Like Bacterium Associated With Epitheliocystis in Farmed Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar). J. Clin. Microbiol.
42: 5286-5297
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Soldati, G., Lu, Z. H., Vaughan, L., Polkinghorne, A., Zimmermann, D. R., Huder, J. B., Pospischil, A.
(2004). Detection of Mycobacteria and Chlamydiae in Granulomatous Inflammation of Reptiles: A Retrospective Study. Vet Pathol
41: 388-397
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Horn, M., Collingro, A., Schmitz-Esser, S., Beier, C. L., Purkhold, U., Fartmann, B., Brandt, P., Nyakatura, G. J., Droege, M., Frishman, D., Rattei, T., Mewes, H.-W., Wagner, M.
(2004). Illuminating the Evolutionary History of Chlamydiae. Science
304: 728-730
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Kostanjsek, R., Strus, J., Drobne, D., Avgustin, G.
(2004). 'Candidatus Rhabdochlamydia porcellionis', an intracellular bacterium from the hepatopancreas of the terrestrial isopod Porcellio scaber (Crustacea: Isopoda). Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol.
54: 543-549
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Schmitz-Esser, S., Linka, N., Collingro, A., Beier, C. L., Neuhaus, H. E., Wagner, M., Horn, M.
(2004). ATP/ADP Translocases: a Common Feature of Obligate Intracellular Amoebal Symbionts Related to Chlamydiae and Rickettsiae. J. Bacteriol.
186: 683-691
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Greub, G., Raoult, D.
(2003). History of the ADP/ATP-Translocase-Encoding Gene, a Parasitism Gene Transferred from a Chlamydiales Ancestor to Plants 1 Billion Years Ago. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
69: 5530-5535
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Poppert, S., Essig, A., Marre, R., Wagner, M., Horn, M.
(2002). Detection and Differentiation of Chlamydiae by Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
68: 4081-4089
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Schuster, F. L.
(2002). Cultivation of Pathogenic and Opportunistic Free-Living Amebas. Clin. Microbiol. Rev.
15: 342-354
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Greub, G., Raoult, D.
(2002). Crescent Bodies of Parachlamydia acanthamoeba and Its Life Cycle within Acanthamoeba polyphaga: an Electron Micrograph Study. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
68: 3076-3084
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Kahane, S., Kimmel, N., Friedman, M. G.
(2002). The growth cycle of Simkania negevensis. Microbiology
148: 735-742
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Kahane, S., Dvoskin, B., Mathias, M., Friedman, M. G.
(2001). Infection of Acanthamoeba polyphaga with Simkania negevensis and S. negevensis Survival within Amoebal Cysts. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
67: 4789-4795
[Abstract]
[Full Text]