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Updated: Aug 13, 2026

Live-Cell Forward Genetic Approach to Identify and Isolate Developmental Mutants in Chlamydia trachomatis
Published on: June 10, 2020
Building the invisible wall: updating the chlamydial peptidoglycan anomaly
Andrea J McCoy1, Anthony T Maurelli
1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, MD 20814-4799, USA.
Abstract:
The existence of peptidoglycan (PG) in chlamydiae has long been debated. Genome sequencing of members of the Chlamydiaceae family and Protochlamydia amoebophila has uncovered a nearly complete pathway for PG synthesis in these organisms. The recent use of microarray and proteomic analysis methods has revealed that PG synthesis genes are expressed primarily during reticulate body development and division. Furthermore, key genes in the chlamydial PG synthesis pathway encode functional PG synthesis enzymes, some of which provide the basis for the susceptibility of chlamydiae to PG inhibitors. Recent studies shed light on how the construction of a cell wall in chlamydiae is taking shape and why the wall is being built.
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