Nicholson Tracy L, Olinger Lynn, Chong Kimberley, Schoolnik Gary, Stephens Richard S
Division of Infectious Diseases, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
J Bacteriol. 2003 May;185(10):3179-89. doi: 10.1128/JB.185.10.3179-3189.2003.
Distinct morphological changes associated with the complex development cycle of the obligate intracellular bacterial pathogen Chlamydia trachomatis have been historically well characterized by microscopy. A number of temporally regulated genes have been characterized previously, suggesting that the chlamydial developmental cycle is regulated at the transcriptional level. This hypothesis was tested by microarray analysis in which the entire C. trachomatis genome was analyzed, providing a comprehensive assessment of global gene regulation throughout the chlamydial developmental cycle. Seven temporally cohesive gene clusters were identified, with 22% (189 genes) of the genome differentially expressed during the developmental cycle. The correlation of these gene clusters with hallmark morphological events of the chlamydial developmental cycle suggests three global stage-specific networks of gene regulation.
专性胞内细菌病原体沙眼衣原体复杂的发育周期所伴随的独特形态学变化，在历史上已通过显微镜得到了很好的表征。此前已鉴定出许多受时间调控的基因，这表明衣原体的发育周期在转录水平受到调控。通过微阵列分析对这一假设进行了验证，其中对沙眼衣原体的整个基因组进行了分析，从而对衣原体发育周期中的全局基因调控进行了全面评估。鉴定出了七个时间上连贯的基因簇，基因组中有22%（189个基因）在发育周期中差异表达。这些基因簇与衣原体发育周期标志性形态学事件的相关性表明存在三个全局阶段特异性基因调控网络。
