The Chlamydia species are obligate intracellular bacteria that proliferate only within the infected cell. Since the extracellular bacteria are metabolically inert and there are no cell-free systems for characterizing Chlamydia metabolism, we studied metabolic changes related to ATP synthesis and glycolysis in HeLa cells infected with Chlamydia psittaci during the course of the 2-day infection cycle using noninvasive 31 P and 13 C NMR methods. We find that the infection stimulates ATP synthesis in the infected cell, with a peak of ATP levels occurring midway through the infection cycle, when most of the metabolically active bacteria are proliferating. The infection also stimulates synthesis of glutamate with a similar time course as for ATP. The stimulation is apparently due to an enhancement in glucose consumption by the infected cell, which also results in an increased rate of lactate production and glutamate synthesis as well as higher glycogen accumulation during the infection. Concurrently, infection leads to an increase in the expression of the glucose transporter, GLUT-1, on HeLa cells, which may account for the enhanced glucose consumption. The chlamydiae are thus able to stimulate glucose transport in the host cell sufficiently to compensate for the extra energy load on the cell represented by the infection.Chlamydia species are causative agents of conjunctivitis and pneumonia, and they are recognized as the leading cause of bacterially acquired sexually transmitted infections. On repeated exposure, the consequences can be blinding trachoma or sequelae from sexually transmitted infection, such as epididymitis or pelvic inflammatory diseases, ectopic pregnancy, or tubal infertility (1, 2). Despite the clinical importance of these infections, the biology and biochemistry of Chlamydia infection remains poorly understood.The chlamydiae are obligate intracellular bacteria that proliferate only within the infected host cell. In line with its requirement for host cell metabolites for survival, Chlamydia exists in two developmental states, elementary bodies (EBs) 1 and reticulate bodies (RBs). EBs represent the metabolically inactive, infectious form of the bacteria, and they are internalized into host cells within membrane-bound vacuoles that avoid fusion with host-cell lysosomes (3). Within 6 -10 h after internalization, the EBs differentiate into the metabolically active RBs. This transformation triggers DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis in the RBs, which proliferate in the growing vacuole and produce up to a thousand progeny. Lipids from the transGolgi network are transported to this membrane (4), and the bacteria contribute their own proteins to the inclusion membrane (5). An intimate association thus exists between the bacteria and the host, but the lack of molecular tools in the field has made further characterization of the association difficult. After approximately 2 days of infection, RBs differentiate back into EBs, and a new infection cycle can begin.Chlamydia trachomatis grows well in cytoplasts (enuc...