Candidatus Syngnamydia Venezia, a Novel Member of the Phylum Chlamydiae from the Broad Nosed Pipefish, Syngnathustyphle typhle

Authors

Alexander Fehr, University of Zurich
Elisabeth Walther, University of Zurich
Heike Schmidt-Posthaus, University of Berne
Lisbeth Nufer, University of Zurich
Anthony B. Wilson, CUNY Brooklyn CollegeFollow
Miroslav Svercel, University of Zurich
Denis Richter, University of Zurich
Helmut Segner, University of Berne
Andreas Pospischil, University of Zurich
Lloyd Vaughan, University of Zurich

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-12-2013

Abstract

Chlamydia are obligate intracellular bacteria and important pathogens of humans and animals. Chlamydia-related bacteria are also major fish pathogens, infecting epithelial cells of the gills and skin to cause the disease epitheliocystis. Given the wide distribution, ancient origins and spectacular diversity of bony fishes, this group offers a rich resource for the identification and isolation of novel Chlamydia. The broad-nosed pipefish (Syngnathus typhle) is a widely distributed and genetically diverse temperate fish species, susceptible to epitheliocystis across much of its range. We describe here a new bacterial species, Candidatus Syngnamydia venezia; epitheliocystis agent of S. typhle and close relative to other chlamydial pathogens which are known to infect diverse hosts ranging from invertebrates to humans.

Comments

This article was originally published in PLoS one, available at DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0070853.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.