''Chlamydia caviae'' is a bacterium that can be recovered from the
conjunctiva of
Guinea pigs suffering from ocular
inflammation and eye discharge. It is also possible to infect the genital tract of Guinea pigs with ''C. caviae'' and elicit a disease that is very similar to human
Chlamydia trachomatis infection
Chlamydia, or more specifically a chlamydia infection, is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Chlamydia trachomatis''. Most people who are infected have no symptoms. When symptoms do appear they may occur only several wee ...
. ''C. caviae'' infects primarily the
mucosal epithelium
A mucous membrane or mucosa is a membrane that lines various cavities in the body of an organism and covers the surface of internal organs. It consists of one or more layers of epithelial cells overlying a layer of loose connective tissue. It is ...
and is not invasive.
''C. caviae'' is markedly specific for Guinea pigs, as attempts to infect mice, hamsters, rabbits and gerbils have been unsuccessful, except for one experimentally infected gerbil. The five known ''C. caviae'' isolates are indistinguishable, based on ompA gene sequence.
Genome structure
''C. caviae'' has a relatively small genome that contains 1.17 Mbp with 998 protein coding genes. Additionally, ''C. caviae'' strain GPIC contains an extrachromosomal
plasmid
A plasmid is a small, extrachromosomal DNA molecule within a cell that is physically separated from chromosomal DNA and can replicate independently. They are most commonly found as small circular, double-stranded DNA molecules in bacteria; how ...
, pCpGP1.
References
External links
Chlamydiae.comType strain of ''Chlamydophila caviae'' at Bac''Dive'' - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase
Further reading
*
*
Chlamydiota
{{veterinary-med-stub