Research from University of Zurich has provided new data on chlamydia.

According to recent research from Zurich, Switzerland, "Predicted members of the HfIX subfamily of phosphate-binding-loop guanosine triphosphatases (GTPases) are widely distributed in the bacterial kingdom but remain virtually uncharacterized. In an attempt to understand mechanisms used for regulation of growth and development in the chlamydiae, obligate intracellular and developmentally complex bacteria, we have begun investigations into chlamydial GTPases; we report here what appears to be the first analysis of a HfIX family GTPase using a predicted homologue from Chlamydophila pneumoniae."

"In agreement with phylogenetic predictions for members of this GTPase family, purified recombinant Cp. pneumoniae HfIX was specific for guanine nucleotides and exhibited a slow intrinsic GTPase activity when incubated with [gamma-P-32]GTP. Using HfIX-specific monoclonal antibodies, HfIX could be detected by Western blotting and high-resolution confocal microscopy throughout the vegetative growth cycle of Cp. pneumoniae and, at early time points, appeared to partly localize to the membrane. Ectopic expression of Cp. pneumoniae HfIX in Escherichia coli revealed co-sedimentation of HfIX with the E coli 50S large ribosomal subunit. The results of this work open up some intriguing possibilities for the role of GTPases belonging to this previously ...