Phylogenetic Analysis of the Chlamydia trachomatis Major Outer Membrane Protein and Examination of Potential Pathogenic Determinants

ABSTRACT

Phylogenetic analysis was utilized to investigate biological relationships (tissue tropism, disease presentation, and epidemiologic success), as evidenced by coevolution, among human strains ofChlamydia trachomatis. Nucleotide sequences ofomp1, the gene encoding the major outer membrane protein (MOMP) of C. trachomatis, were determined for 40 strains representing 11 serovars. These data were combined with availableomp1 sequences from GenBank for an analysis encompassing a total of 69 strains representing 17 serovars infecting humans. Phylogenetic analysis of the nucleotide and inferred amino acid sequences showed no evolutionary relationships among serovars that corresponded to biological or pathological phenotypes (tissue tropism, disease presentation, and epidemiologic success). In addition, no specific residues that may have evolved to play a role in determining biologically relevant characteristics of chlamydia, such as tissue specificity, disease presentation, and epidemiologic success, were apparent in the MOMP. These results suggest that variation in MOMP may have arisen from a need to be diverse in the presence of immune pressure rather than as a function of pathogenicity. Therefore, the role of MOMP in disease pathogenesis and infection may be passive, and it may not be the major ligand responsible for directing infection of various human cell types.