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Updated: Jun 24, 2026

Forward Genetic Approaches in Chlamydia trachomatis
Published on: October 23, 2013
Divergence without difference: phylogenetics and taxonomy of Chlamydia resolved
Richard S Stephens1, Garry Myers, Mark Eppinger
1University of California, Berkeley, USA. rss@berkeley.edu
Abstract:
Members of Chlamydiaceae have been extensively characterized by complete genome sequencing. This information provides new understanding concerning their natural evolutionary history. Comparative genome analysis is consistent with the conclusion that host-divergent strains of Chlamydiae are closely related biologically and ecologically. The previous taxonomic separation of the genus based on ribosomal sequences is neither consistent with the natural history of the organism revealed by genome comparisons, nor widely used by the Chlamydia research community 8 years after its introduction; thus, it is proposed to reunite the Chlamydiaceae into a single genus, Chlamydia.
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