This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
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 arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Stothard, D. R.
Right arrow Articles by Batteiger, B. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Stothard, D. R.
Right arrow Articles by Batteiger, B. E.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infection and Immunity, March 2003, p. 1200-1208, Vol. 71, No. 3
0019-9567/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.71.3.1200-1208.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Polymorphic Membrane Protein H Has Evolved in Parallel with the Three Disease-Causing Groups of Chlamydia trachomatis

Diane R. Stothard,* Gregory A. Toth, and Byron E. Batteiger

The Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202

Received 2 July 2002/ Returned for modification 26 September 2002/ Accepted 2 December 2002

Chlamydia trachomatis is a human pathogen causing trachoma, urogenital disease, and lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV). A family of nine polymorphic membrane protein genes (pmpA to pmpI), resembling autotransporter proteins, has recently been discovered in C. trachomatis. pmp genes are large and predicted to be outer membrane proteins. We hypothesized that they would contain useful nucleotide sequence variability for epidemiologic studies. Since sequence information is available only for serovars D and L2, we sought to determine the amount of diversity within an individual pmp gene among serovars. We used restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis as a primary screen to assess the amount of sequence divergence among the pmp genes for serovars A to L3 of C. trachomatis. RFLP analysis showed little variation for some of the genes, such as pmpA, but substantial variation in others, such as pmpI. pmpH and pmpE yielded RFLP patterns that clustered the 15 serovars into ocular, urogenital, and LGV groups, and both proteins have been localized to the outer membrane. Therefore, we chose to sequence pmpE, pmpH, and pmpI from each of the 15 serovars. Evolutionary analysis showed three distinct divergence patterns. PmpI was least variable, resulting in an ambiguous evolutionary pattern. PmpE showed a high degree of diversity in the ocular strains compared to the other strains. Finally, the evolution of PmpH shows three groups that reflect disease groups, suggesting this protein may play a role in pathogenesis.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Indiana University School of Medicine, 435 Emerson Hall, 545 Barnhill Dr., Indianapolis, IN 46202. Phone: (317) 278-1791. Fax: (317) 274-1587. E-mail: dstothar{at}iupui.edu.

Editor: J. T. Barbieri

Infection and Immunity, March 2003, p. 1200-1208, Vol. 71, No. 3
0019-9567/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.71.3.1200-1208.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Gomes, J. P., Bruno, W. J., Nunes, A., Santos, N., Florindo, C., Borrego, M. J., Dean, D. (2007). Evolution of Chlamydia trachomatis diversity occurs by widespread interstrain recombination involving hotspots. Genome Res 17: 50-60 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Klint, M., Lofdahl, M., Ek, C., Airell, A., Berglund, T., Herrmann, B. (2006). Lymphogranuloma Venereum Prevalence in Sweden among Men Who Have Sex with Men and Characterization of Chlamydia trachomatis ompA Genotypes. J. Clin. Microbiol. 44: 4066-4071 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Brunelle, B. W., Sensabaugh, G. F. (2006). The ompA Gene in Chlamydia trachomatis Differs in Phylogeny and Rate of Evolution from Other Regions of the Genome. Infect. Immun. 74: 578-585 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Gomes, J. P., Nunes, A., Bruno, W. J., Borrego, M. J., Florindo, C., Dean, D. (2006). Polymorphisms in the Nine Polymorphic Membrane Proteins of Chlamydia trachomatis across All Serovars: Evidence for Serovar Da Recombination and Correlation with Tissue Tropism. J. Bacteriol. 188: 275-286 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Carlson, J. H., Porcella, S. F., McClarty, G., Caldwell, H. D. (2005). Comparative Genomic Analysis of Chlamydia trachomatis Oculotropic and Genitotropic Strains. Infect. Immun. 73: 6407-6418 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Virok, D. P., Nelson, D. E., Whitmire, W. M., Crane, D. D., Goheen, M. M., Caldwell, H. D. (2005). Chlamydial Infection Induces Pathobiotype-Specific Protein Tyrosine Phosphorylation in Epithelial Cells. Infect. Immun. 73: 1939-1946 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Henderson, I. R., Navarro-Garcia, F., Desvaux, M., Fernandez, R. C., Ala'Aldeen, D. (2004). Type V Protein Secretion Pathway: the Autotransporter Story. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 68: 692-744 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Carlson, J. H., Hughes, S., Hogan, D., Cieplak, G., Sturdevant, D. E., McClarty, G., Caldwell, H. D., Belland, R. J. (2004). Polymorphisms in the Chlamydia trachomatis Cytotoxin Locus Associated with Ocular and Genital Isolates. Infect. Immun. 72: 7063-7072 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Gomes, J. P., Bruno, W. J., Borrego, M. J., Dean, D. (2004). Recombination in the Genome of Chlamydia trachomatis Involving the Polymorphic Membrane Protein C Gene Relative to ompA and Evidence for Horizontal Gene Transfer. J. Bacteriol. 186: 4295-4306 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»