Chlamydia trachomatis: small genome, big challenges.

Chlamydial infections are highly newsworthy, but basic research into Chlamydia trachomatis is severely hampered by a series of formidable technical barriers. This has resulted in a paucity of information with respect to the genetics and population structure of these recalcitrant bacteria. Here we present a review of what is currently known about the genomics of C. trachomatis and discuss the usefulness of molecular typing systems and the prospects of developing a pan-chlamydial genome resource.