Treponema pallidum - wikipedia Treponema pallidum Treponema pallidum Scientific classification Domain : Bacteria Phylum : Spirochaetes Order : Spirochaetales Family : Spirochaetaceae Genus : Treponema Species : T. pallidum Binomial name Treponema pallidum Schaudinn & Hoffmann, 1905 Treponema pallidum is a spirochaete bacterium with subspecies that cause treponemal diseases such as syphilis, bejel, pinta, and yaws. It is a helically coiled microorganism usually 6 -- 15 μm long and 0.1 -- 0.2 μm wide. The treponemes have a cytoplasmic and an outer membrane. Using light microscopy, treponemes are visible only by using dark field illumination. They are Gram negative, but some regard them as too thin to be Gram stained. Contents 1 Subspecies 2 Laboratory identification 3 Clinical significance 4 Genome 5 Vaccine 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links Subspecies This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. ( December 2010 ) At least four subspecies are known : Treponema pallidum pallidum, which causes syphilis T. p. endemicum, which causes bejel or endemic syphilis T. p. carateum, which causes pinta T. p. pertenue, which causes yaws The cause of pinta is sometimes described as Treponema carateum, rather than a subspecies of T. pallidum, even when the subspecies convention is used for the other agents. Laboratory identification Micrograph showing T. pallidum ( black and thin ) -- Dieterle stain This bacterium can be detected with special stains, such as the Dieterle stain. T. pallidum is also detected by serology, including nontreponemal VDRL, rapid plasma reagin, treponemal antibody tests ( FTA - ABS ), T. pallidum immobilization reaction, and syphilis TPHA test. It was first microscopically identified in syphilitic chancres by Fritz Schaudinn and Erich Hoffmann at the Charité in Berlin in 1905. Clinical significance T. p. pallidum is a motile spirochaete that is generally acquired by close sexual contact, entering the host via breaches in squamous or columnar epithelium. The organism can also be transmitted to a fetus by transplacental passage during the later stages of pregnancy, giving rise to congenital syphilis. The helical structure of T. p. pallidum allows it to move in a corkscrew motion through mucous membranes or enter minuscule breaks in the skin. In women the initial lesion is usually on the labia, the walls of the vagina, or the cervix ; in men it is on the shaft or glans of the penis. It gains access to the host 's blood and lymph systems through tissue and mucous membranes. In more severe cases, it may gain access to the host by infecting the skeletal bones and central nervous system of the body. The three subspecies causing yaws, pinta, and bejel, which often cause lesions on the skin and mucous membranes as well as on soft tissue and bone, are morphologically and serologically indistinguishable from T. p. pallidum ( syphilis ) ; however, their transmission is not venereal and the course of each disease is significantly different. The incubation period for a T. p. pallidum infection is usually around 21 days, but can range from 10 days to 90 days. Genome The genome of T. pallidum was sequenced in 1998. The recent sequencing of the genomes of several spirochetes permits a thorough analysis of the similarities and differences within this bacterial phylum. T. p. pallidum has one of the smallest bacterial genomes at 1.14 million base pairs, and has limited metabolic capabilities, reflecting its adaptation through genome reduction to the rich environment of mammalian tissue. The shape of T. pallidum is flat and wavy, unlike the other spirochetes, which are helical. Vaccine No vaccine for syphilis is available as of 2017. The outer membrane of T. pallidum has too few surface proteins for an antibody to be effective. Efforts to develop a safe and effective syphilis vaccine have been hindered by uncertainty about the relative importance of humoral and cellular mechanisms to protective immunity, and because T. pallidum outer membrane proteins have not been unambiguously identified. References Jump up ^ Radolf, Justin D. ( 1996 - 01 - 01 ). Baron, Samuel, ed. Medical Microbiology ( 4th ed. ). Galveston ( TX ) : University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. ISBN 0963117211. PMID 21413263. Jump up ^ Antal GM, Lukehart SA, Meheus AZ ( January 2002 ). `` The endemic treponematoses ''. Microbes Infect. 4 ( 1 ) : 83 -- 94. doi : 10.1016 / S1286 - 4579 ( 01 ) 01513 - 1. PMID 11825779. Jump up ^ Fisher, Bruce ; Harvey, Richard P. ; Champe, Pamela C. Lippincott 's Illustrated Reviews : Microbiology ( Lippincott 's Illustrated Reviews Series ). Hagerstown, MD : Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. ISBN 0 - 7817 - 8215 - 5. Jump up ^ Schaudinn, Fritz Richard ; Hoffmann, Erich ( 1905 ). `` Vorläufiger Bericht über das Vorkommen von Spirochaeten in syphilitischen Krankheitsprodukten und bei Papillomen '' ( Preliminary report on the occurrence of Spirochaetes in syphilitic chancres and papillomas ). Arbeiten aus dem Kaiserlichen Gesundheitsamte. Berlin : Verlag von Julius Springer. 22 : 527 -- 534. Jump up ^ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK7716/ Jump up ^ Radolf, Justin D. ( 1996 - 01 - 01 ). Baron, Samuel, ed. Medical Microbiology ( 4th ed. ). Galveston ( TX ) : University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. ISBN 0963117211. PMID 21413263. Jump up ^ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK7716/ Jump up ^ `` STD Facts -- Syphilis ( Detailed ) ''. www.cdc.gov. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 19. Jump up ^ Fraser CM, Norris SJ, Weinstock GM, et al. ( July 1998 ). `` Complete genome sequence of Treponema pallidum, the syphilis spirochete ''. Science. 281 ( 5375 ) : 375 -- 88. doi : 10.1126 / science. 281.5375. 375. PMID 9665876. Jump up ^ Clark, D.P., Dunlap, P.V, Madigan, J.T., Martinko, J.M. Brock Biology of Microorganism. San Francisco : Pearson. 2009. 79 p. Jump up ^ Bishop, Nancy H. ; Miller, James N. ( 1976 - 07 - 01 ). `` Humoral Immunity in Experimental Syphilis ''. The Journal of Immunology. 117 ( 1 ) : 191 -- 196. ISSN 0022 - 1767. PMID 778261. Jump up ^ Tomson FL, Conley PG, Norgard MV, Hagman KE ( September 2007 ). `` Assessment of cell - surface exposure and vaccinogenic potentials of Treponema pallidum candidate outer membrane proteins ''. Microbes Infect. 9 ( 11 ) : 1267 -- 75. doi : 10.1016 / j. micinf. 2007.05. 018. PMC 2112743. PMID 17890130. Jump up ^ Cameron CE, Lukehart SA ( 2014 ). `` Current status of syphilis vaccine development : Need, challenges, prospects ''. Vaccine. 32 ( 14 ) : 1602 -- 1609. doi : 10.1016 / j. vaccine. 2013.09. 053. PMC 3951677. PMID 24135571. Further reading Althouse, Benjamin M. ; Herbert - Dufresne, Laurent ( 2014 ). `` Epidemic cycles driven by host behaviour ''. Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 11 : 20140575. doi : 10.1098 / rsif. 2014.0575. Retrieved November 6, 2014. External links `` Syphilis - CDC Fact Sheet. '' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. May. 2004. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 7 February 2006 Infectious diseases Bacterial diseases : BV4 non-proteobacterial G - ( primarily A00 -- A79, 001 -- 041, 080 -- 109 ) Spirochaete Spirochaetaceae Treponema Treponema pallidum Syphilis / bejel Yaws Treponema carateum ( Pinta ) Treponema denticola Borrelia Borrelia burgdorferi / Borrelia afzelii Lyme disease Erythema chronicum migrans Neuroborreliosis Borrelia recurrentis ( Louse borne relapsing fever ) Borrelia hermsii / Borrelia duttoni / Borrelia parkeri ( Tick borne relapsing fever ) Leptospiraceae Leptospira Leptospira interrogans ( Leptospirosis ) Chlamydiaceae Chlamydophila Chlamydophila psittaci ( Psittacosis ) Chlamydophila pneumoniae Chlamydia Chlamydia trachomatis Chlamydia Lymphogranuloma venereum Trachoma Bacteroidetes Bacteroides fragilis Tannerella forsythia Capnocytophaga canimorsus Porphyromonas gingivalis Prevotella intermedia Fusobacteria Fusobacterium necrophorum ( Lemierre 's syndrome ) Fusobacterium nucleatum Fusobacterium polymorphum Streptobacillus moniliformis ( Rat - bite fever / Haverhill fever ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Treponema_pallidum&oldid=812546271 '' Categories : Treponema Syphilis Bacteria described in 1905 Hidden categories : Articles with ' species ' microformats Articles to be expanded from December 2010 All articles to be expanded Articles using small message boxes Use dmy dates from January 2011 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikispecies Български Bosanski Català Čeština Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Euskara فارسی Français Galego 한국어 Bahasa Indonesia Italiano ქართული Latina Latviešu Lietuvių Magyar Nederlands Norsk Polski Português Română Русский Simple English Svenska Türkçe Українська Edit links This page was last edited on 28 November 2017, at 13 : 10. 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Question: what disease is caused by bacterium treponema pallidum
Answer: syphilis