Definition: An order of obligately intracellular, gram-negative bacteria that have the chlamydia-like developmental cycle of replication. This is a two-stage cycle that includes a metabolically inactive infectious form, and a vegetative form that replicates by binary fission. Members of Chlamydiales are disseminated by aerosol or by contact. There are at least six recognized families: CHLAMYDIACEAE, Criblamydiaceae, Parachlamydiaceae, Rhabdochlamydia, Simkaniaceae, and Waddliaceae.
