# Functional genomics for Chlamydia

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2020 · $680,588

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
For bacterial pathogens, the first studies that begin to define the microorganism’s functional genetic nature on
a genome-wide scale, frequently represent a landmark and highly impactful achievement. The major human
pathogen, Chlamydia trachomatis, is a bacterium for which such studies have not been performed, in large part
due to Chlamydia’s obligate intracellular nature and historical intractability to modern genetic perturbations.
With the development of two major genetic tools for Chlamydia by our group—transposon mutagenesis and
conditional temperature-sensitive mutants—functional genomic investigations in Chlamydia are now possible.
Our long term goal is to globally define and functionally characterize the genetic correlates to
C. trachomatis infection and pathogenesis. Using the new approaches described above, we propose to:
(i) build defined mutant libraries of transposon and temperature-sensitive conditional mutants in model
Chlamydia strains, (ii) screen these libraries for hallmark in vitro and in vivo growth defects using a clinically
relevant murine genital tract model, and (iii) determine the Chlamydia genes associated with host adaptation
by exploiting interspecies lateral gene transfer for Chlamydia and the inability of human parental strains to
infect mice.
These efforts are essential for gaining a functional appreciation of the role chlamydial genes play in the
organism’s growth and development, and also Chlamydia’s evolutionary adaptation to successfully maintain
infection and pathogenesis in complex mammalian hosts. We anticipate that Chlamydia will serve as a model
obligate intracellular bacterium, and, therefore, the knowledge obtained from this work will broadly extend to
other pathogens that have similarly evolved an obligate intracellular niche in their mammalian hosts.
Identification of these loci is critical for our understanding the mechanism of Chlamydia adaptation to
mammalian hosts, and is an important step towards elucidating the major virulence correlates of
C. trachomatis in humans.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9916700
- **Project number:** 5R01AI126785-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** P Scott Hefty
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $680,588
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-05-15 → 2022-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9916700

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9916700, Functional genomics for Chlamydia (5R01AI126785-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9916700. Licensed CC0.

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