Bacteria Genomes - TREPONEMA PALLIDUM

Treponema pallidum is the causative agent of syphilis. Syphilis is characterised by multiple clinical stages and long periods of latent, asymptomatic infection. The primary infection is localised, but organisms rapidly disseminate and cause manifestations throughout the body. Veneral syphilis was first diagnosed as early as the 1400's and although effective therapies have been available since the introduction of penicillin, syphilis remains an important global health problem.

The organism is a spirochete, a helical to sinusoidal bacterium with outer and cytoplasmic membranes, a thin peptidoglycan layer and flagella that lie in the periplasmic space and extend from both ends toward the middle of the organism.

T. pallidum is an obligate human parasite that cannot be cultured continuously in vitro. As the mechanism of pathogenesis is poorly understood, existing diagnostic tests for syphilis are suboptimal and no vaccine against T. pallidum is available.

References:

Science 281 (5375):375-88 (1998)
http://www.ebi.ac.uk/integr8/QuickSearch.do?action=doOrgSearch&organismName=Treponema+pallidum
http://www.tigr.org/CMR2/BackGround/gtp.html