Chlamydia trachomatis is arguably one of the most successful human bacterial pathogens by virtue of its capacity to hijack host cell intracellular trafficking and lipid transport pathways to promote infection (Bastidas et al., 2013; Derré, 2015; Elwell et al., 2016; Moore and Ouellette, 2014). C. trachomatis causes nearly 100 million sexually transmitted infections annually worldwide, and if left unchecked leads to various human diseases including infection-induced blindness, pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility and ectopic pregnancy (Aral et al., 2006; Newman et al., 2015). Even though chlamydial infections can generally be treated with antibiotics, persistent infections remain a challenge (Kohlhoff and Hammerschlag, 2015; Mpiga and Ravaoarinoro, 2006).