: when the virulence-associated genome backbone imports a prevalence-associated major antigen signature.

is the most prevalent sexually transmitted bacterium worldwide and the causative agent of trachoma. Its strains are classified according to their genotypes, which are strongly linked to differential tissue tropism and disease outcomes [ocular disease, urogenital disease and lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV)]. While the genome-based species phylogenetic tree presents four main clades correlating with tropism/prevalence, namely ocular, LGV, urogenital T1 (more prevalent genotypes) and urogenital T2 (less prevalent genotypes), inter-clade exchange of is considered a rare phenomenon probably mediating marked tropism alterations.