Waddlia chondrophila WSU 86-1044

This obligatory intracellular bacteria is suspected to be an agent of miscarriage in humans and ruminants. Strain WSU 86-1044 was isolated in 1986 at the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (hence the genus name) from tissues of a first-trimester aborted bovine foetus; it grows in macrophages as well as in Acanthamoeba castellanii. Unlike other Chlamydia sequenced to date 5% of the genome encodes repetitive sequences; other Chlamydia have almost no repetitive DNA. It encodes a number of virulence factors specific for resistance to host or environmental stresses including a putative carbonate permease, heavy metal exporters and multidrug efflux pumps. It is less metabolically dependent on its host than other Chlamydiae, as it encodes the capacity to synthesize some nucleotides, amino acids, lipids and other cofactors (adapted from PMID 20531937). (EBI Integr8)