Treponema pallidum
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| Treponema pallidum Schaudinn & Hoffmann, 1905 |
Treponema pallidum is a spirochaete bacterium.
There are at least four known subspecies: T. pallidum pallidum, which causes syphilis; T. pallidum pertenue, which causes yaws; T. pallidum carateum, which causes pinta; and T. pallidum endemicum, which causes bejel.
T. pallidum pallidum is a motile spirochaete that is generally acquired by close sexual contact, entering the host via breaches in squamous or columnar epithelium. Rarely, it may occur in medical personnel. The organism can also be transmitted to a fetus by transplacental passage during the later stages of pregnancy, giving rise to congenital syphilis.
The subspecies causing yaws, pinta, and bejel are morphologically and serologically indistinguishable from T. pallidum pallidum (syphilis); however, their transmission is not venereal in nature and the course of each disease is significantly different.
In the July 17, 1998 issue of the journal Science, a group of biologists reported how they sequenced the genome of T. pallidum.de:Treponema pallidum es:Treponema fr:Treponema pallidum ko:매독균 it:Treponema pallidum nl:Treponema pallidum no:Treponema pallidum fi:Kuppa