Bacteria Genomes - LEPTOSPIRA INTERROGANS

Leptospira interrogans are zoonotic pathogens that have been linked to a recent increased incidence of morbidity and mortality in highly populated tropical urban centres. Leptospira are flexible, Gram-negative spirochetes (cork-screw or spiral shaped bacteria) that are six to nine micrometers long. These microbes propel themselves using internal flagella and twisting back and forth.

Leptospira is a , spiral-shaped, spirochete with

Leptospira cause leptospirosis and although leptospirosis has long been recognised as an important endemic disease in many tropical regions, it is now becoming a more common problem in highly populated urban centres. Clinically, it is typified by diverse symptoms that include fever, headache, severe muscle pain, ocular disorders, meningitis, jaundice, renal failure and pulmonary haemorrhage.

Transmission is most often from dogs, livestock, and wild mammals. The organisms can establish a commensal relationship with many animal hosts, persisting in the renal tubules without producing disease or causing pathologic changes in the kidney. From here they are continually excreted in the urine and can contaminate natural bodies of water which serve as a source of the infection. The organism penetrates intact mucous membranes or burrows through small breaks in the skin to enter the blood stream although occasionally it is transmitted through ingestion of contaminated food or by inhalation of droplet aerosols of contaminated fluids.

Leptospira are unique among invasive spirochetes in that they contain outer membrane lipopolysaccharide (LPS) as well as lipoproteins.

References:

http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/ni/journal/v2/n4/abs/ni0401_346_fs.html
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/pphb-dgspsp/msds-ftss/msds95e.html
http://genomenewsnetwork.org/sequenced_genomes/genome_guide_p2.shtml#lepto
J. Bacteriol. 186(7):2164-2172(2004)