bubbles

Biology

How chlamydia forms protective bubbles to survive within human cells

Chlamydiatrachomatis inclusions (brown) in McCoy cell cultures. Credit: Public Domain Bacterium chlamydia trachomatis is the main cause of sexually transmitted diseases. Bacteria have many tricks on their sleeves that help them survive within the cell. One strategy used by chlamydia is to form a protective “bubbles” called inclusion. This is the fusion of membranes to create large pockets of large…