Chlamydia Trachomatis Essay

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Chlamydia trachomatis is a Gram-negative, obligate intracellular bacterium that causes disease in human across borders. Chlamydias are nonmotile; they only develop within the cell they invaded because it cannot synthesize ATP on its own. They are very small and use to be considered a virus by scientists. They can be filtered through pores as small as 0.45-um. (Bauman, 605) They are similar to gram-negative bacteria in that it has to two membranes, a cytoplasmic membrane and the outer membrane but lacks the peptidoglycan and a cell wall. The life cycle of the C. trachomatis is 72 hours, it penetrates the host cell through endocytosis and results in the death of the target cell. There are two forms of its developmental cycle; elementary bodies or EB’s which are tiny cocci and are (0.2-0.4 um). They do not replicate and are only released when the infected host cell ruptures. It’s the elementary body that is responsible for the spread of the disease from person to person because they are resistant to extreme environments and can even survive outside the host cell. The start of the growth process begins with the RNA polymerase within the elementary body transcribes the DNA genome which continues into the RB cycles. The other form of Chlamydias developmental cycle is the reticulate bodies (RB) which are larger than the elementary bodies, they are (0.6-1.5um) in size. (Bauman, 605). They are noninfective and are intracytoplasmatic which means it takes place within the cytoplasm of a cell. They are obligated intercellular which means they cannot reproduce outside their host cell. The reticulate body divides by binary fission to make smaller RB’s and when it’s filled it begins to convert back into elementary bodies and once again becomes infectious. As I mentioned earlier Chlamydias lack the ability to synthesize ATP on its own and depends on the host cell to

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