How chlamydia forms protective bubbles to survive inside human cells

The bacterium chlamydia trachomatis is a major cause of sexually transmitted diseases. Bacteria have lots of tricks up their sleeve that help them survive inside cells. One strategy that chlamydia uses is to form protective "bubbles," called inclusions, which fuse their membranes together to create large pockets of bacteria inside cells. Now, a new study by researchers at Thomas Jefferson University, published in Nature Communications, has shed light on the mechanisms behind this process.