Chlamydiaceae

Chlamydiaceae
Scientific classification
Domain:	Bacteria
Phylum:	Chlamydiae
Class:	Chlamydiae
Order:	Chlamydiales
Family:	Chlamydiaceae
Genera
Candidatus Clavochlamydia salmonicola♠ Karlsen et al. 2008 Chlamydophila Chlamydia

Chlamydiaceae is a family of bacteria that belongs to the Phylum Chlamydiae, Order Chlamydiales. All Chlamydiaceae species are Gram-negative and express the family-specific lipopolysaccharide epitope αKdo-(2→8)-αKdo-(2→4)-αKdo (previously called the genus-specific epitope). Chlamydiaceae ribosomal RNA genes all have at least 90% DNA sequence identity. Chlamydiaceae species have varying inclusion morphology, varying extrachromosomal plasmid content, and varying sulfadiazine resistance.

Chlamydiaceae currently includes two genera and one candidate genus: Chlamydia, Chlamydophila and Candidatus Clavochlamydia.^[1]

Chlamydia

Main article: Chlamydia (bacterium)

Three species belong to Chlamydia: C. trachomatis, C. muridarum, and C. suis. C. trachomatis has been found only in humans, C. muridarum in hamsters and mice (family Muridae), and C. suis in swine. Chlamydia spp. produce a small amount of detectable glycogen and have two ribosomal operons.

C. trachomatis is the cause of a Chlamydia infection commonly transmitted sexually (often referred as just "Chlamydia") and also causes trachoma, an infectious eye disease, spread by eye, nose, and throat secretions.

Chlamydophila

Main article: Chlamydophila

Six species belong to Chlamydophila: C. pneumoniae (often also called Chlamydia pneumoniae), C. pecorum, C. psittaci, C. abortus, C. caviae, and C. felis. Chlamydophila spp. do not produce detectable glycogen and have one ribosomal operon. These species are naturally found living in a variety of animals.

See also

References

1. ^ See the NCBI webpage on Chlamydiaceae Data extracted from the "NCBI Taxonomy Browser". National Center for Biotechnology Information. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/taxonomyhome.html/index.cgi. Retrieved 2011-06-05.