PLoS ONE (Jan 2021)

A new species of Chlamydia isolated from Siamese crocodiles (Crocodylus siamensis).

  • Somjit Chaiwattanarungruengpaisan,
  • Metawee Thongdee,
  • Songtham Anuntakarun,
  • Sunchai Payungporn,
  • Nlin Arya,
  • Apichart Punchukrang,
  • Pongrama Ramasoota,
  • Sombat Singhakaew,
  • Thassanant Atithep,
  • Ladawan Sariya

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252081
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16, no. 5
p. e0252081

Abstract

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Chlamydia is a known pathogen in both saltwater and freshwater crocodiles. However, the exact species/strain has not been clearly identified. In this study, we successfully cultivated Siamese crocodile Chlamydia in McCoy cells at a temperature of 30°C. Electron microscopy; phylogeny based on nine conserved taxonomically informative markers, on ompA, or on seven housekeeping genes; and whole-genome sequencing and analysis of the isolate confirmed the identity of the isolate as a new member of the genus Chlamydia, a new species that we name Chlamydia crocodili.