Temperature affects the host range of Rhabdochlamydia porcellionis and the infectivity of Waddlia chondrophila and Chlamydia trachomatis elementary bodies

Abstract

The Rhabdochlamydiaceae family is a recent addition to the Chlamydiales order. Its members were discovered in cockroaches and woodlice but recent metagenomics surveys demonstrated the widespread distribution of this family in the environment. It was moreover estimated to be the largest family of the Chlamydiales order based on 16S rRNA encoding gene diversity. Unlike most chlamydia-like organisms, no Rhabdochlamydiaceae could be co-cultivated in amoebae and its host range remains largely unknown. Here, we tested the permissivity of various mammalian and arthropod cell lines to determine the host range of Rhabdochlamydia porcellionis, the only cultured representative of this family. While a growth could initially only be obtained in the Sf9 cell line, lowering the incubation temperature of the mammalian cells from 37 °C to 28 °C allowed R. porcellionis to grow in those cells. Furthermore, a 6 h exposure to 37 °C was sufficient to irreversibly block the replication of R. porcellionis, suggesting that this bacterium either lost or never acquired the ability to grow at 37 °C. We next sought to determine if temperature would also affect the infectivity of elementary bodies. Although we could not purify enough bacteria to reach a conclusive result for R. porcellionis, our experiment showed that the elementary bodies of Chlamydia trachomatis and Waddlia chondrophila lose their infectivity faster at 37 °C than at room temperature. Our results demonstrate that members of the Chlamydiales adapt to the temperature of their host organism and that this adaptation can in turn restrict their host range.

Microbiome of laboratory‐reared and environmentally collected cockroaches

“…The recent development of multi-omics technology and microbiome analysis have raised awareness about cockroaches as a pathogen reservoir (Domínguez-Santos et al 2021;Marquis et al 2023). At the genus level, we detected pathogens that may cause opportunistic infections (Fig.…”

Aberrant Bodies: An Alternative Metabolic Homeostasis Allowing Survivability?

“…Approximately 20 years later, the first publications describing ABs of Chlamydia -related bacteria appeared. These studies included Estrella lausannensis [ 25 ], Waddlia chondrophila [ 26 ], Simkania negevensis [ 27 ], Protochlamydia amoebophila [ 28 ], and Rhabdochlamydia porcellionis [ 29 ]. Indeed, ABs have been observed in most families in the order Chlamydiales .…”

“…Estrella lausannensis  [25]  [54] Rhabdochlamydia  [29] [30] It was not until the 1990s that nutrient starvation and interferon-γ (IFNγ) treatme were described as additional inducers of persistence in Chlamydiaceae [23,24]. Appro mately 20 years later, the first publications describing ABs of Chlamydia-related bacte appeared.…”