Infect. Immun., 04 1996, 1265-1271, Vol 64, No.

4
Copyright © 1996, American Society for Microbiology

Ultrastructural changes in avian Chlamydia psittaci

serovar A-, B-, and D-infected Buffalo Green Monkey
cells
D Vanrompay, G Charlier, R Ducatelle and F Haesebrouck
Department of Avian Medicine and Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Merelbeke, Belgium.

In order to find an explanation for the observed differences in levels of pathogenicity in

turkeys of Chlamydia psittaci 84/55 (avian serovar A), 89/1326 (avian serovar B),
92/1293 (avian serovar D), and the Texas Turkey strain (avian serovar D) (P.B. Wyrick,
J. Choong, S.T. Knight, D. Goyeau, E.S. Stuart, and A.B. MacDonald, Immunol. Infect.
Dis. 4:131- 141, 1994), the reproductive cycles of organisms of the four strains were
studied in Buffalo Green Monkey cells by transmission electron microscopy,
immunoelectron microscopy, and flow cytometry. Organisms of strains most pathogenic
in turkeys, namely, the serovar A strain and the 92/1293 serovar D strain, (i) replicated
faster, since at 50 h postinoculation significantly larger inclusions with more numerous
infectious organisms were observed than with the less pathogenic strains; (ii) were often
found devoid of inclusion membranes scattered throughout the cytoplasms; and (iii)
induced severe degenerative changes in Buffalo Green Monkey cells. By
immunoelectron microscopy and flow cytometry, chlamydial antigens could not be
detected in the plasma membranes of infected host cells. However, the presence of
chlamydial antigens in inclusion membranes was demonstrated by immunoelectron
microscopy