SRA

Until recently it was commonly admitted that the chlamydia trachomatis strain causing blindness belong to a single phylogenic clade, distinct from the clade of strain causing urogenital infection (UGT) or lymphogranuloma venerum disease. In a recent publication, Andersson et al. reported that Australian ocular strains affecting aboriginal children population display a more complex phylogenic picture with a backbone similar to UGT strains and a limited number of loci encoding immunodominant proteins characteristic of trachoma lineage. This novel finding suggests that active recombination occurs between the various lineages. Our collaborators from Vietnam and the London School of Hygiene and Tropcial Medicine, Dr. Anthony Solomon, have collected eye swabs from patients with clinical signs of trachoma, from different ethnic groups. These samples have been tested positive by PCR for Chlamydia trachomatis. After DNA extraction from swbas we have reconfirmed the presence of Chlamydia trachomatis DNA by qPCR. These are the first samples collected from South East Asia and specifically from Vietnam. We are aiming to determine through Sure Select technology sequencing if the Chlamydia trachomatis strain phylogeny of these samples confirms their genetic relatedness to the classical African occular lineage or if these strains display polyphyletic features and show signs of recombination between multiple disctinct lineages as in the Australian Aboriginal cases.