IJSEM Journal of Bacteriology
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
 QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     


This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Extended 16S rRNA gene-based tree
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Everett, K. D. E.
Right arrow Articles by Baumann, P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Everett, K. D. E.
Right arrow Articles by Baumann, P.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Everett, K. D. E.
Right arrow Articles by Baumann, P.
Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 55 (2005), 1581-1587; DOI  10.1099/ijs.0.63454-0
© 2005 International Union of Microbiological Societies

Novel chlamydiae in whiteflies and scale insects: endosymbionts ‘Candidatus Fritschea bemisiae’ strain Falk and ‘Candidatus Fritschea eriococci’ strain Elm

Karin D. E. Everett1, MyLo Thao2, Matthias Horn3, Glen E. Dyszynski4 and Paul Baumann2

1 Department of Biology, Box 355325, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-5325, USA
2 Microbiology Section, University of California, Davis, CA 95616-8665, USA
3 Division of Microbial Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Conservation Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
4 University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA

Correspondence
Karin D. E. Everett
kdeeverett{at}hotmail.com or
kdee2004{at}u.washington.edu or
keverett{at}uga.edu


    ABSTRACT
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 MAIN TEXT
 REFERENCES
 
Bacteria called ‘Fritschea’ are endosymbionts of the plant-feeding whitefly Bemisia tabaci and scale insect Eriococcus spurius. In the gut of B. tabaci, these bacteria live within bacteriocyte cells that are transmitted directly from the parent to oocytes. Whiteflies cause serious economic damage to many agricultural crops; B. tabaci fecundity and host range are less than those of Bemisia argentifolii, possibly due to the presence of this endosymbiont. The B. tabaci endosymbiont has been characterized using electron microscopy and DNA analysis but has not been isolated or propagated outside of insects. The present study compared sequences for 11 endosymbiont genes to genomic data for chlamydial families Parachlamydiaceae, Chlamydiaceae and Simkaniaceae and to 16S rRNA gene signature sequences from 330 chlamydiae. We concluded that it was appropriate to propose Candidatus Fritschea bemisiae’ strain Falk and Candidatus Fritschea eriococci’ strain Elm as members of the family Simkaniaceae in the Chlamydiales.


Published online ahead of print on 4 March 2005 as DOI 10.1099/ijs.0.63454-0.

The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession numbers for genomic fragments containing the rRNA operons of ‘Candidatus F. bemisiae’ Falk and ‘Candidatus F. eriococci’ Elm are respectively AY140910 and AY140911.

An extended neighbour-joining tree is available as supplementary material in IJSEM Online.


    MAIN TEXT
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 MAIN TEXT
 REFERENCES
 
The whitefly Bemisia tabaci biotype A contains several types of endosymbiont (Costa et al., 1995Go). Two have been characterized, including rRNA gene sequence analyses (Clark et al., 1992Go; Thao & Baumann, 2004aGo; Zchori-Fein & Brown, 2002Go). The third endosymbiont, when examined using electron microscopy (EM), has a biphasic appearance (Fig. 1Go). The electron-dense globular bodies of the biphasic endosymbiont are 0·2–0·25 µm wide and the less dense morphological forms are 0·7–0·8 µm wide and 0·7–2·5 µm long (Costa et al., 1995Go). The chlamydial nature of the biphasic endosymbiont is suggested by PCR amplification of extracted total insect DNA using 23S rRNA gene signature sequence primers (Thao et al., 2003Go; Everett et al., 1999aGo). Analysing a 16·6 kb XhoI–EcoRV genome segment from the organism, Thao et al. (2003)Go found that the full-length 16S rRNA and 23S rRNA gene sequences were 91 % identical to rRNA genes in Simkania negevensis ZT, the type strain, species and genus of the Simkaniaceae (Table 1Go), and that, like S. negevensis, the 23S rRNA gene contained an intron (Everett et al., 1999bGo). Although the endosymbiont was not isolated, Thao et al. (2003)Go proposed the names ‘Fritschea bemisiae’ for the endosymbiont and ‘Fritschea eriococci for a related endosymbiont.



View larger version (152K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Fig. 1. ‘Candidatus Fritschea bemisiae’ within its B. tabaci host cells. Reproduced with permission of Springer-Verlag KG from Costa et al. (1995)Go. C2, Reticulate bodies (replicating chlamydiae); f, filamentous structures within reticulate bodies; gb, elementary bodies (electron dense, compact chlamydiae); P, primary pleomorphic endosymbiont (Thao & Baumann, 2004aGo). Bar, 1 µm.

 

View this table:
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Table 1. Full-length rRNA gene sequence identity between the B. tabaci endosymbiont ‘Candidatus Fritschea bemisiae’ and selected chlamydial sequences

Sequences were identified by BLAST and aligned using CLUSTAL. Gaps were not deleted, but the introns in the S. negevensis and ‘Candidatus F. bemisiae’ 23S rRNA genes were deleted. GenBank accession numbers are in parentheses. ND, Not determined.

 
A bacterial species must be culturable for valid publication of its name. The B. tabaci chlamydial endosymbiont, however, has only been found to live in bacteriocytes, which are transmitted vertically to oocytes (Costa et al., 1996Go). In an effort to culture this endosymbiont, we used an Acanthamoeba co-cultivation method that we use routinely to isolate strains of the Parachlamydiaceae. This method has been shown to work for culture of S. negevensis (Kahane et al., 2001Go). In the present study, co-cultivation of disrupted Bemisia with amoebae in trypticase soy yeast broth did not result in chlamydial growth in the broth or amoebae. Each time we thought the endosymbiont might be growing, it was lost from the amoeba culture, perhaps due to extremely slow growth. We have not been able to confirm growth by fluorescent in situ hybridization or by sequencing and have not tried to culture the endosymbiont by other means. The category Candidatus accommodates more than two dozen bacterial taxa not yet isolated or cultivated in vitro. For these reasons, we propose that ‘Fritschea and similar endosymbionts belong to a new genus designated ‘Candidatus Fritschea’.

The cloned and sequenced 16·6 kb genomic fragment from the endosymbiont contained 10 predicted open reading frames (ORFs) and an rRNA operon. To characterize the relationship of the endosymbiont to chlamydiae, we compared these sequences to the genome sequences of four species of the Chlamydiaceae and strain UWE25 from the Parachlamydiaceae (Horn et al., 2004Go; Kalman et al., 1999Go; Read et al., 2000Go, 2003Go; Stephens et al., 1998Go). In the genomes from the Chlamydiaceae, three of the endosymbiont ORFs were absent from all four sequenced species: glycosylhydrolase, transposase and GTP-binding protein (Table 2Go). Six ORFs were present in the species from the Chlamydiaceae, but were more similar to UWE25 (Parachlamydiaceae) ORFs (Table 2Go). None was located in the vicinity of an rRNA operon, but the tenth ORF was an endonuclease in the 23S rRNA gene intron. The endosymbiont 16S and 23S rRNA gene sequences were more than 80 % identical to chlamydial rRNA genes (Table 1Go).


View this table:
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Table 2. ‘Candidatus Fritschea bemisiae’ and other chlamydial genomes: protein similarities and conservation of gene order

GenBank accession numbers and Locus Tags are provided. Values in parentheses indicate percentage identity/similarity/gaps. Similarity is based on the possible codons for each amino acid and scored positive if amino acid comparison suggests no more than one nucleotide difference. None, Absent from the genome.

 
Nine of the endosymbiont ORFs were present in strain UWE25 (Parachlamydiaceae) (Table 2Go). The six ORFs that were clustered downstream of the endosymbiont rRNA genes were also clustered in UWE25 (Locus Tags pc0231–39; Table 2Go), although not in the vicinity of an rRNA operon. Two of the endosymbiont genes upstream of the rRNA genes, yaeL and a putative transposase, were also in close proximity in UWE25. These transposase ORFs were located in large predicted, complementary hairpins (not shown). The endosymbiont transposase was related to an IS982 element in Photorhabdus luminescens, a broad-spectrum insect pathogen and gammaproteobacterial symbiont of nematodes (Duchaud et al., 2003Go). Between yaeL and the transposase gene in the endosymbiont was a glycosylhydrolase gene. UWE25 had three different ORFs between yaeL and the transposase (pc0262–64); a glycosylhydrolase ORF (pc1825) was located 1562 ORFs away on the UWE25 chromosome. Only the intron ORF of the endosymbiont was absent from UWE25, which did not have a 23S rRNA gene intron. The ORF, however, did share 55 % amino acid sequence identity with the endonuclease in the 23S rRNA group I intron of S. negevensis ZT. Both introns were located in the I-CpaI restriction site (position 1910, by Escherichia coli numbering; data not shown).

Chlamydiae are increasingly being identified and classified on the basis of rRNA gene sequence, but as yet there are few well-characterized chlamydial genera. Current standards rely on percentage rRNA gene sequence identity to facilitate orderly discovery, comparison and eventual classification of novel species (Everett et al., 1999aGo). Parachlamydiaceae and Chlamydiaceae, for example, are separate families because they have <90 % 16S rRNA gene sequence identity. In fact, we now know that their 85 % 16S rRNA gene sequence identities correlate with great genomic, pathogenic and evolutionary differences (Horn et al., 2004Go). Despite clear standards for the taxonomic placement of novel chlamydiae, errors are sometimes made. For example, the 16S rRNA gene sequence of ‘Candidatus Rhabdochlamydia’ is 91 % identical to the environmental chlamydiae lineage (ECL) VI of chlamydiae and only 84 % identical to S. negevensis (Kostanjsek et al., 2004Go). Nonetheless, solely based on a neighbour-joining analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences, ‘Candidatus Rhabdochlamydia’ was placed in the family Simkaniaceae (Kostanjsek et al., 2004Go). Phylogenetic instability increases with the addition of novel, deeply branching 16S rRNA gene sequences, and branch points lose bootstrap and treepuzzle support. Phylogenetic analysis alone does not resolve chlamydial relationships.

To delineate the relationship between chlamydiae and the B. tabaci biphasic endosymbiont, two 16S rRNA gene sequence datasets were aligned. The first contained only full-length or nearly full-length sequences; it was analysed for percentage identity. The result was consistent with previous analyses of chlamydiae and in Fig. 2Go provided a backbone for the analysis of the second dataset. The second dataset comprised 331 chlamydia-like 16S rRNA gene signature sequences. Bootstrap analysis of the aligned sequences identified the most strongly supported similarity clusters. The signature sequences correspond to nucleotide positions 40–337 (E. coli numbering) and contain the highest proportion of differences in the chlamydial 16S rRNA gene (Everett et al., 1999aGo) (Fig. 2Go and Supplementary Fig. S1 available in IJSEM Online). A reliably aligned 202-base segment of this dataset contained 43 identical positions. Bootstrap analysis identified six reliably clustered families and 92 lineages containing only one or two sequences (Fig. 2Go). Of all of them, the endosymbiont signature sequence was most similar to the S. negevensis signature sequence. The next closest were CRG26 (from human tissue) and CRG34 (from fertilizer) (Meijer & Ossewaarde, 2002Go). Bootstrapping placed S. negevensis with ‘Candidatus Fritschea’, but not with any other sequences. Clusters that were identified had varying traits, including pathogenicity, endosymbiosis, human infectivity and host specificity (see Supplementary Fig. S1). Obtained from many continents, these groups showed no evidence of geographical specificity.



View larger version (42K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Fig. 2. Chlamydial 16S rRNA gene sequence clusters. This figure summarizes the diversity of 331 chlamydial lineages using two levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity clustering: (i) percentage identity of full-length or nearly full-length sequences (vertical bars) and (ii) signature sequence clusters having >50 % bootstrap support (branches and numbers). Clusters are labelled with the genus and with ECL group names (Horn & Wagner, 2001Go). The nine species of the Chlamydiaceae represent the 177 available sequences. Supplementary Fig. S1 shows a neighbour-joining tree of the complete selection of sequences (Chua, 2003Go; Chua et al., 2005Go; Corsaro et al., 2001Go, 2002Go; Devereaux et al., 2003Go; Fritsche et al., 2000Go; Greub & Raoult, 2002Go; Henning et al., 2002Go; Horn & Wagner, 2001Go; Kaplan & Kitts, 2004Go; Labrenz & Banfield, 2004Go; von Bomhard et al., 2003Go; Meijer et al., 2000Go; Ossewaarde & Meijer, 1999Go). Bar, 0·05 substitutions per site.

 
In screening DNA extracts from additional insects, a second chlamydia-like sequence was obtained from the scale insect Eriococcus spurius (Sternorrhyncha, Eriococcidae; Thao et al., 2003Go). The E. spurius 16S rRNA gene sequence (presumably from another endosymbiont) was 97 % identical to the B. tabaci endosymbiont sequence (Table 1Go). The full-length 16S rRNA gene sequence of the endosymbiont was also nearly identical to a DNA sequence obtained from B. tabaci biotype Jatropha. E. spurius did not have a 23S rRNA gene intron.

This study brings together evidence for a chlamydial endosymbiont in the whitefly B. tabaci (Sternorrhyncha, Aleyrodidae): it lives inside cells, is biphasic, has >80 % full-length rRNA gene sequence identity with species of the Chlamydiales, clusters with 91 % rRNA gene sequence identity in the family Simkaniaceae and has nine ORFs most closely related to members of the Parachlamydiaceae, compared with Chlamydiaceae or any other available lineage. Chlamydiae are often pathogenic, whereas primary endosymbionts typically benefit their hosts. Indeed, three observations indicate that the biphasic endosymbiont of B. tabaci may be pathogenic: (i) the 18S rRNA gene sequences of B. tabaci and B. argentifolii are indistinguishable, indicating that these whiteflies are closely related; (ii) EM and PCR show that B. argentifolii lacks the chlamydial endosymbiont of B. tabaci (Costa et al., 1995Go; Thao et al., 2003Go); and (iii) B. argentifolii causes serious disorders not caused by B. tabaci and is more vigorous with respect to growth and progeny production (Costa et al., 1995Go). Thus, Costa et al. (1995)Go proposed that the lower fecundity and narrower host range of B. tabaci may be due to the chlamydial endosymbiont. The prevalence of chlamydiae in insects is not known. Thao et al. (2003)Go studied a strain of B. tabaci that is maintained by Bryce Falk at the University of California, Davis. Zchori-Fein & Brown (2002)Go examined 20 B. tabaci strains and placed a chlamydiae-like ‘jatropha’ sequence from B. tabaci in GenBank, but B. tabaci ‘Jatropha’ was not described in their publication. Although B. tabaci is less pathogenic than B. argentifolii, many agricultural crops are severely infested with B. tabaci, including watermelons, pumpkins, squash, tomatoes, cotton, soybeans and peanuts, as are numerous weeds (R. Sprenkel and S. Olson, unpublished; http://n-fl-bugs.ifas.ufl.edu/more/Insect_week/2-18.htm). Due to its status as a pest, the availability of B. tabaci for research is restricted.

Symbionts in general belong to many bacterial phyla, including the Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Chlamydiae, and the Archaea. Endosymbiont phyla in insects are similarly diverse (Wernegreen, 2002Go). The primary and secondary non-chlamydial endosymbionts in B. tabaci collections are gammaproteobacteria (Clark et al., 1992Go; Thao & Baumann, 2004aGo, bGo; Zchori-Fein & Brown, 2002Go). The primary gammaproteobacterial endosymbionts have been designated ‘Candidatus Portiera aleyrodidarum’ (Thao & Baumann, 2004aGo). They are obligate and group with Zymobacter in the Halomonadaceae. The secondary endosymbionts group with Enterobacteriaceae, are not obligate and are thought to have been recently acquired (Clark et al., 1992Go; Thao & Baumann, 2004bGo; Zchori-Fein & Brown, 2002Go). Chlamydial endosymbionts and intracellular bacteria live in many host lineages: mammals, marsupials, birds, reptiles, amphibians, amoebae, the crustacean Porcellio scaber and now insects (for up-to-date reviews see http://www.chlamydiae.com). Crustaceans and insects are sister taxa (Roehrdanz et al., 2002Go). This suggests that an ancestor of both might have acquired chlamydiae long ago, but there is also evidence that chlamydiae may have played an ancestral role in the evolution of plants (Greub & Raoult, 2003Go; Horn et al., 2004Go). The strongest support for this is that 11 % of the ORFs in the UWE25 genome (Parachlamydiaceae) are most closely related to sequences from chloroplasts, cyanobacteria and plants (Horn et al., 2004Go); 4 % of the ORFs in the genomes from the Chlamydiaceae are closely related to sequences from plants (Brinkman et al., 2002Go). In addition, the 23S rRNA gene group I introns of the endosymbiont and S. negevensis are most closely related to chloroplast rRNA gene introns (Everett et al., 1999bGo). Chlamydiae have not yet been found in plants, but B. tabaci and E. spurius feed on plant phloem, so it may be that plant genes were acquired by chlamydiae via horizontal transfer through insect feeding activity.

We propose that the chlamydia-like endosymbionts of B. tabaci (Sternorrhyncha, Aleyrodidae) and E. spurius (Sternorrhyncha, Eriococcidae) should be given Candidatus status (Murray & Schleifer, 1994Go). The 16S rRNA gene sequences of these endosymbionts are >=95 % identical to each other and have >=90 % identity to the 16S rRNA gene sequence of S. negevensis ZT, so they belong to a separate genus in the family Simkaniaceae (Everett et al., 1999aGo). They should be specifically detectable with the labelled 16S rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probe 5'-TTCTCTTTCCGCAAGGCC-3' (showing at least four mismatches with all other 16S rRNA sequences currently available). PCR using primers U23F (5'-GATGCCTTGGCATTGATAGGCGATGAAGGA-3') and 23SIGR (5'-TGGCTCATCATGCAAAAGGCA-3') amplifies ‘Candidatus Fritschea’ endosymbionts but not gammaproteobacteria (Everett et al., 1999aGo; Thao et al., 2003Go).

Description of ‘Candidatus Fritschea bemisiae’
Candidatus Fritschea bemisiae’ (Frit'sche.a. N.L. fem. n. Fritschea after Thomas R. Fritsche, American physician and parasitologist, whose studies initiated a major change in our perception of the natural history and diversity of the Chlamydiae. be.mi'si.ae. N.L. gen. fem. n. bemisiae of Bemisia, the genus of whitefly insects in which it was first discovered).

The host range currently includes the whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Sternorrhyncha, Aleyrodidae). ‘Candidatus Fritschea bemisiae’ can be detected and identified using EM, PCR amplification and DNA sequence analysis. EM detection of ‘Ca. F. bemisiae’ in the bacteriocytes of B. tabaci shows intracellular growth, small rod-like reticulate bodies and electron-dense elementary bodies (0·2–0·8 µm). There is evidence for a single ribosomal operon in ‘Ca. F. bemisiae’. The G+C content is 40 mol% in a 16·6 kb ‘Ca. F. bemisiae’ genome fragment containing the rRNA operon (GenBank accession no. AY140910). Gene organization in this fragment is most similar to gene organization in strain UWE25 from the Parachlamydiaceae, the only genome sequenced to date from an organism in the order Chlamydiales not belonging to the Chlamydiaceae. The rRNA operon does not include a tRNA. Like S. negevensis, ‘Ca. F. bemisiae’ has a group I intron in the 23S rRNA gene (position 1910, E. coli numbering). Strain Falk is the reference strain of the species ‘Ca. F. bemisiae’ and was reared in the laboratory of B. W. Falk at UC Davis, CA, USA.

Description of ‘Candidatus Fritschea eriococci’
Candidatus Fritschea eriococci’ (e.ri.o.coc'ci. N.L. gen. masc. n. eriococci of Eriococcus, the genus of scale insects in which it was first discovered).

The host range currently includes the scale insect Eriococcus spurius (Sternorrhyncha, Eriococcidae). ‘Candidatus Fritschea eriococci’ is currently known only by PCR and sequencing of DNA extracted from Eriococcus collected from an elm tree in Davis, CA, USA. The rRNA operon does not include a tRNA (GenBank accession no. AY140911); unlike ‘Ca. F. bemisiae’ and S. negevensis, ‘Ca. F. eriococci’ strain Elm does not have a 23S rRNA gene group I intron. Strain Elm is the reference strain of the species ‘Ca. F. eriococci’.


    ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
 
We thank Heather Costa, Springer-Verlag KG and the IJSEM for enabling us to prepare this document. We thank Robin M. Bush for bootstrap analysis of our data and Adam Meijer and J. M. Ossewaarde for providing information for Supplementary Fig. S1. Work in the lab of M. H. was supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) grant P16566-B14.


    REFERENCES
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 MAIN TEXT
 REFERENCES
 
Brinkman, F. S. L., Blanchard, J. L., Cherkasov, A. & 11 other authors (2002). Evidence that plant-like genes in Chlamydia species reflect an ancestral relationship between Chlamydiaceae, cyanobacteria, and the chloroplast. Genome Res 12, 1159–1167.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Chua, K. B. (2003). A novel approach for collecting samples from fruit bats for isolation of infectious agents. Microbes Infect 5, 487–490.[CrossRef][Medline]

Chua, P. K. B., Corkill, J. E., Hooi, P. S., Cheng, S. C., Winstanley, C. & Hart, C. A. (2005). Isolation of Waddlia malaysiensis, a novel intracellular bacterium, from fruit bat (Eonycteris spelaea). Emerg Infect Dis 11, 271–277.[Medline]

Clark, M. A., Baumann, L., Munson, M. A., Baumann, P., Campbell, B. C., Duffus, J. E., Osborne, L. S. & Moran, N. A. (1992). The eubacterial endosymbionts of whiteflies (Homoptera: Aleyrodoidea) constitute a lineage distinct from the endosymbionts of aphids and mealybugs. Curr Microbiol 25, 119–123.[CrossRef]

Corsaro, D., Venditti, D., Le Faou, A., Guglielmetti, P. & Valassina, M. (2001). A new chlamydia-like 16S rDNA sequence from a clinical sample. Microbiology 147, 515–516.[Free Full Text]

Corsaro, D., Venditti, D. & Valassina, M. (2002). New chlamydial lineages from freshwater samples. Microbiology 148, 343–344.[Free Full Text]

Costa, H. S., Westcot, D. M., Ullman, D. E., Rosell, R., Brown, J. K. & Johnson, M. W. (1995). Morphological variation in Bemisia endosymbionts. Protoplasma 189, 194–202.[CrossRef]

Costa, H. S., Toscano, N. C. & Henneberry, T. J. (1996). Mycetocyte inclusion in the oocytes of Bemisia argentifolii (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae). Ann Entomol Soc Am 89, 694–699.

Devereaux, L. N., Polkinghorne, A., Meijer, A. & Timms, P. (2003). Molecular evidence for novel chlamydial infections in the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus). Syst Appl Microbiol 26, 245–253.[CrossRef][Medline]

Duchaud, E., Rusniok, C., Frangeul, L. & 23 other authors (2003). The genome sequence of the entomopathogenic bacterium Photorhabdus luminescens. Nat Biotechnol 21, 1307–1313.[CrossRef][Medline]

Everett, K. D. E., Bush, R. M. & Andersen, A. A. (1999a). Emended description of the order Chlamydiales, proposal of Parachlamydiaceae fam. nov. and Simkaniaceae fam. nov., each containing one monotypic genus, revised taxonomy of the family Chlamydiaceae, including a new genus and five new species, and standards for the identification of organisms. Int J Syst Bacteriol 49, 415–440.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Everett, K. D. E., Kahane, S., Bush, R. M. & Friedman, M. G. (1999b). An unspliced group I intron in 23S rRNA links Chlamydiales, chloroplasts, and mitochondria. J Bacteriol 181, 4734–4740.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Fritsche, T. R., Horn, M., Wagner, M., Herwig, R. P., Schleifer, K.-H. & Gautom, R. K. (2000). Phylogenetic diversity among geographically dispersed Chlamydiales endosymbionts recovered from clinical and environmental isolates of Acanthamoeba spp. Appl Environ Microbiol 66, 2613–2619.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Greub, G. & Raoult, D. (2002). Parachlamydiaceae: potential emerging pathogens. Emerg Infect Dis 8, 625–630.[Medline]

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/Free Full Text]

Henning, K., Schares, G., Granzow, H., Polster, U., Hartmann, M., Hotzel, H., Sachse, K., Peters, M. & Rauser, M. (2002). Neospora caninum and Waddlia chondrophila strain 2032/99 in a septic stillborn calf. Vet Microbiol 85, 285–292.[CrossRef][Medline]

Horn, M. & Wagner, M. (2001). Evidence for additional genus-level diversity of Chlamydiales in the environment. FEMS Microbiol Lett 204, 71–74.[CrossRef][Medline]

Horn, M., Collingro, A., Schmitz-Esser, S. & 10 other authors (2004). Illuminating the evolutionary history of chlamydiae. Science 304, 728–730.[Abstract/Free 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/Free Full Text]

Kalman, S., Mitchell, W., Marathe, R. & 7 other authors (1999). Comparative genomes of Chlamydia pneumoniae and C. trachomatis. Nat Genet 21, 385–389.[CrossRef][Medline]

Kaplan, C. W. & Kitts, C. L. (2004). Bacterial succession in a petroleum land treatment unit. Appl Environ Microbiol 70, 1777–1786.[Abstract/Free 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/Free Full Text]

Labrenz, M. & Banfield, J. F. (2004). Sulfate-reducing bacteria-dominated biofilms that precipitate ZnS in a subsurface circumneutral-pH mine drainage system. Microb Ecol 47, 205–217.[Medline]

Meijer, A. & Ossewaarde, J. M. (2002). Description of a wider diversity within the Order Chlamydiales than currently classified. In Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Human Chlamydial Infections, Antalya, Turkey. Edited by R. S. Stephens et al. San Francisco: International Chlamydia Symposium.

Meijer, A., Roholl, P. J. M. & Ossewaarde, J. M. (2000). Use of the broad range PCR assay for the identification and classification of bacteria in the order Chlamydiales. In Proceedings of the Fourth Meeting of the European Society for Chlamydia Research, p. 9. Edited by P. Saikku. Bologna: Universitas Helsingiensis.

Murray, R. G. E. & Schleifer, K.-H. (1994). Taxonomic notes: a proposal for recording the properties of putative taxa of procaryotes. Int J Syst Bacteriol 44, 174–176.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Ossewaarde, J. M. & Meijer, A. (1999). Molecular evidence for the existence of additional members of the order Chlamydiales. Microbiology 145, 411–417.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Read, T. D., Brunham, R. C., Shen, C. & 22 other authors (2000). Genome sequences of Chlamydia trachomatis MoPn and Chlamydia pneumoniae AR39. Nucleic Acids Res 28, 1397–1406.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Read, T. D., Myers, G. S., Brunham, R. C. & 18 other authors (2003). Genome sequence of Chlamydophila caviae (Chlamydia psittaci GPIC): examining the role of niche-specific genes in the evolution of the Chlamydiaceae. Nucleic Acids Res 31, 2134–2147.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Roehrdanz, R. L., Degrugillier, M. E. & Black, W. C., IV (2002). Novel rearrangements of arthropod mitochondrial DNA detected with long-PCR: applications to arthropod phylogeny and evolution. Mol Biol Evol 19, 841–849.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Stephens, R. S., Kalman, S., Lammel, C. & 9 other authors (1998). Genome sequence of an obligate intracellular pathogen of humans: Chlamydia trachomatis. Science 282, 754–759.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Thao, M. L. & Baumann, P. (2004a). Evolutionary relationships of primary prokaryotic endosymbionts of whiteflies and their hosts. Appl Environ Microbiol 70, 3401–3406.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Thao, M. L. & Baumann, P. (2004b). Evidence for multiple acquisition of Arsenophonus by whitefly species (Sternrrhyncha: Aleyrodidae). Curr Microbiol 48, 140–144.[CrossRef][Medline]

Thao, M. L., Baumann, L., Hess, J. M., Falk, B. W., Ng, J. C., Gullan, P. J. & Baumann, P. (2003). Phylogenetic evidence from two new insect-associated chlamydia of the family Simkaniaceae. Curr Microbiol 47, 46–50.[CrossRef][Medline]

von Bomhard, W., Polkinghorne, A., Lu, Z. H., Vaughan, L., Vogtlin, A., Zimmermann, D. R., Spiess, B. & Pospischil, A. (2003). Detection of novel chlamydiae in cats with ocular disease. Am J Vet Res 64, 1421–1428.[CrossRef][Medline]

Wernegreen, J. J. (2002). Genome evolution in bacterial endosymbionts of insects. Nat Rev Genet 3, 850–861.[CrossRef][Medline]

Zchori-Fein, E. & Brown, J. K. (2002). Diversity of prokaryotes associated with Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae). Ann Entomol Soc Am 95, 711–718.[CrossRef]




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol.Home page
G. Avgustin and R. Kostanjsek
Comments on a recent paper introducing a non-phylogenetic approach to the establishment of relationships between higher taxa in Chlamydiae
Int J Syst Evol Microbiol, December 1, 2006; 56(12): 2727 - 2728.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Clin. Microbiol. Rev.Home page
D. Corsaro and G. Greub
Pathogenic Potential of Novel Chlamydiae and Diagnostic Approaches to Infections Due to These Obligate Intracellular Bacteria
Clin. Microbiol. Rev., April 1, 2006; 19(2): 283 - 297.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Extended 16S rRNA gene-based tree
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Everett, K. D. E.
Right arrow Articles by Baumann, P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Everett, K. D. E.
Right arrow Articles by Baumann, P.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Everett, K. D. E.
Right arrow Articles by Baumann, P.


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
INT J SYST EVOL MICROBIOL MICROBIOLOGY J GEN VIROL
J MED MICROBIOL ALL SGM JOURNALS