Chlamydiae

Chlamydia-like disease affecting the eyes of people was first described in ancient Chinese and Egyptian manuscripts. A modern description of chlamydia-like organisms was provided by Halberstaedrrter and von Prowazek in 1907. Chlamydial isolates cultured in the yolk sacs of embryonating eggs were obtained from a human pneumonitis outbreak in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and by the mid-20th century, isolates had been obtained from dozens of vertebrate species. The term chlamydia (a cloak) appeared in the literature in 1945, although other names continued to be used, including Bedsonia, Miyagawanella, ornithosis-, TRIC-, and PLT-agents. In 1956, Chlamydia trachomatis was first cultured by Tang Fei-fan, though they were not yet recognized as bacteria.[9]

In 1966, Chlamydiae were recognized as bacteria and the genus Chlamydia was validated.[10] The order Chlamydiales was created by Storz and Page in 1971. The class Chlamydiia was recently validly published.[11][12][13] Between 1989 and 1999, new families, genera, and species were recognized. The phylum Chlamydiae was established in Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology.[14] By 2006, genetic data for over 350 chlamydial lineages had been reported.[15] Discovery of ocean-floor forms reported in 2020 involves new clades.[2]

The Chlamydiae currently contain eight validly named genera, and 14 genera.[16] The phylum presently consist of two orders (Chlamydiales, Parachlamydiales) and nine families within a single class (Chlamydiia).[11][12] Only four of these families are validly named (Chlamydiaceae, Parachlamydiaceae, Simkaniaceae, Waddliaceae)[17][18] while five are described as families (Clavichlamydiaceae, Criblamydiaceae, Parilichlamydiaceae, Piscichlamydiaceae, and Rhabdochlamydiaceae).[19][20][21] The Chlamydiales order as recently described contains the families Chlamydiaceae, and the Clanchiamydiaceae, while the new Parachlamydiales order harbors the remaining seven families.[11] This proposal is supported by the observation of two distinct phylogenetic clades that warrant taxonomic ranks above the family level. Molecular signatures in the form of conserved indels (CSIs) and proteins (CSPs) have been found to be uniquely shared by each separate order, providing a means of distinguishing each clade from the other and supporting the view of shared ancestry of the families within each order.[11][22] The distinctness of the two orders is also supported by the fact that no CSIs were found among any other combination of families.

Molecular signatures have also been found that are exclusive for the family Chlamydiaceae.[11][22] The Chlamydiaceae originally consisted of one genus, Chlamydia, but in 1999 was split into two genera, Chlamydophila and Chlamydia. The genera have since 2015 been reunited where species belonging to the genus Chlamydophila have been reclassified as Chlamydia species.[23][24] However, CSIs and CSPs have been found specifically for Chlamydophila species, supporting their distinctness from Chlamydia, perhaps warranting additional consideration of two separate groupings within the family.[11][22] CSIs and CSPs have also been found that are exclusively shared by all Chlamydia that are further indicative of a lineage independent from Chlamydophila, supporting a means to distinguish Chlamydia species from neighbouring Chlamydophila members.

The Chlamydiae form a unique bacterial evolutionary group that separated from other bacteria about a billion years ago, and can be distinguished by the presence of several CSIs and CSPs.[11][22][25][26] The species from this group can be distinguished from all other bacteria by the presence of conserved indels in a number of proteins and by large numbers of signature proteins that are uniquely present in different Chlamydiae species.[27][28] Reports have varied as to whether the Chlamydiae are related to the Planctomycetales or Spirochaetes.[29][30] Genome sequencing, however, indicates that 11% of the genes in Protochlamydia amoebophila UWE25 and 4% in the Chlamydiaceae are most similar to chloroplast, plant, and cyanobacterial genes.[26] Cavalier-Smith has postulated that the Chlamydiae fall into the clade Planctobacteria in the larger clade Gracilicutes. However, phylogeny and shared presence of CSIs in proteins that are lineage-specific indicate that the Verrucomicrobia are the closest free-living relatives of these parasitic organisms.[31] Comparison of ribosomal RNA genes has provided a phylogeny of known strains within Chlamydiae.[15]

Three species of Chlamydiae that commonly infect humans are described:

• Chlamydia trachomatis, which causes the eye-disease trachoma and the sexually transmitted infection chlamydia
• Chlamydophila pneumoniae, which causes a form of pneumonia
• Chlamydophila psittaci, which causes psittacosis

The unique physiological status of the Chlamydiae including their biphasic lifecycle and obligation to replicate within a eukaryotic host has enabled the use of DNA analysis for chlamydial diagnostics.[32] Horizontal transfer of genes is evident and complicates this area of research. In one extreme example, two genes encoding histone-like H1 proteins of eukaryotic origin have been found in the prokaryotic genome of C. trachomatis, an obligate intracellular pathogen.

The phylogeny is based on 16S rRNA-based LTP release 123 by The All-Species Living Tree Project.[33]

The currently accepted taxonomy is based on the List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature (LPSN)[34] and the NCBI[35]

• Genus ? Piscichlamydia Draghi et al. 2004
  • Species Piscichlamydia salmonis Draghi et al. 2004
• Family ? Actinochlamydiaceae Steigen et al. 2013
  • Genus Actinochlamydia Steigen et al. 2013
    • Species Actinochlamydia clariae Steigen et al. 2013
• Family ? Clavichlamydiaceae Horn 2011
  • Genus Clavichlamydia corrig. Karlsen et al. 2008
    • Species Clavichlamydia salmonicola corrig. Karlsen et al. 2008
• Family ? Parilichlamydiaceae Stride et al. 2013
  • Genus Parilichlamydia Stride et al. 2013
    • Species Parilichlamydia carangidicola Stride et al. 2013
  • Genus Similichlamydia Stride et al. 2013
    • Species S. latridicola Stride et al. 2013
    • Species S. labri Steigen et al. 2015
• Family Criblamydiaceae Thomas, Casson & Greub 2006
  • Criblamydia Thomas, Casson & Greub 2006
    • Species Criblamydia sequanensis Thomas, Casson & Greub 2006
  • Estrella Thomas et al. 2006
    • Species Estrella lausannensis Corsaro, Feroldi & Greub 2007
• Family Rhabdochlamydiaceae Corsaro et al. 2009
  • Genus Renichlamydia Corsaro & Work 2012
    • Species Renichlamydia lutjani Corsaro & Work 2012
  • Genus Rhabdochlamydia Kostanjsek et al. 2004
    • Species R. crassificans Corsaro et al. 2007
    • Species R. porcellionis Kostanjsek et al. 2004
• Family Chlamydiaceae Rake 1957 emend. Everett, Bush & Andersen 1999
  • Genus Amphibiichlamydia Martel et al. 2012
    • Species A. ranarum Martel et al. 2013
    • Species A. salamandrae Martel et al. 2012
  • Genus Rubidus Pagnier et al. 2015
    • Species Rubidus massiliensis Pagnier et al. 2015
  • Genus Chlamydia Jones et al. 1945 emend. Everett, Bush & Andersen 1999
    • Species ? C. ibidis Vorimore et al. 2013
    • Species C. avium Sachse et al. 2015
    • Species C. gallinacea Sachse et al. 2015
    • Species C. pecorum Fukushi & Hirai 1992
    • Species C. muridarum Everett, Bush & Andersen 1999
    • Species C. trachomatis (Busacca 1935) Rake 1957 emend. Everett, Bush & Andersen 1999
    • Species Chlamydia pneumoniae Grayston et al. 1989
  • Genus Chlamydophila Everett, Bush & Andersen 1999
    • Species C. felis Everett et al. 1999
    • Species C. psittaci (Lillie 1930) Everett, Bush & Andersen 1999
    • Species C. abortus Everett, Bush & Andersen 1999
    • Species C. caviae Everett, Bush & Andersen 1999
• Family Parachlamydiaceae Everett, Bush & Andersen 1999
  • Genus ? Mesochlamydia Corsaro et al. 2012
    • Species Mesochlamydia elodeae Corsaro et al. 2012
  • Genus ? Metachlamydia Corsaro et al. 2010
    • Species Metachlamydia lacustris Corsaro et al. 2010
  • Genus ? Protochlamydia Collingro et al. 2005
    • Species P. amoebophila Collingro et al. 2005
    • Species P. naegleriophila Casson et al. 2006
  • Genus Neochlamydia Horn et al. 2001
    • Species Neochlamydia hartmannellae Horn et al. 2001
  • Genus Parachlamydia Everett, Bush & Andersen 1999
    • Species Parachlamydia acanthamoebae Everett, Bush & Andersen 1999
• Family Simkaniaceae Everett, Bush & Andersen 1999
  • Genus ? Fritschea Everett et al. 2005
    • Species F. bemisiae Everett et al. 2005
    • Species F. eriococci Everett et al. 2005
  • Genus ? Neptunochlamydia Pizzetti et al. 2016
    • Species Neptunochlamydia vexilliferae Pizzetti et al. 2016
  • Genus ? Syngnamydia Fehr et al. 2013
    • Species S. salmonis Nylund et al. 2015
    • Species S. venezia Fehr et al. 2013
  • Genus Simkania Everett, Bush & Andersen 1999
    • Species Simkania negevensis Everett, Bush & Andersen 1999
• Family Waddliaceae Rurangirwa et al. 1999
  • Genus Waddlia Rurangirwa et al. 1999
    • Species W. chondrophila Rurangirwa et al. 1999
    • Species W. malaysiensis Chua et al. 2005

• Chlamydiae.com, a comprehensive information source from Dr. Michael Ward (Professor of Medical Microbiology in the University of Southampton)

• Chlamydia Overview