This article is about the bacterial phylum. For spiral-shaped bacteria in general, see spiral bacteria.
Spirochaetes
Treponema pallidum, a spirochaete which causes syphilis
Scientific classification
Domain:
Bacteria
Phylum:
Spirochaetota Garrity and Holt 2021[3]
Class:
Spirochaetia Paster 2020[1]: 471–563 [2]
Orders
Brachyspirales
Brevinematales
Leptospirales
Spirochaetales
"Treponematales"
Synonyms
Spirochaetota:
"Protozoobacteriales" Prévot 1958
"Spirochaetae" Cavalier-Smith 2002
"Spirochaetaeota" Oren et al. 2015
"Spirochaetes" Garrity and Holt 2001
"Spirochaetota" Whitman et al. 2018
Spirochaetia:
Spirochaetes Cavalier-Smith 2002
"Spirochaetia" Cavalier-Smith 2020
"Leptospiria" Cavalier-Smith 2020
Cross section of a spirochaete cellEndoflagella Components. Legend: Fig. 1: A cross-section of a typical spirochete cell showing endoflagella located in the periplasm between the inner cytoplasmic membrane and the outer membrane. Periplasm, consisting of a gel-like matrix, provides a semi-stable medium to secure endoflagella during rotation. The axial filament, indicated in red, is composed of bundles of endoflagella. Fig. 2: A side-view of a spirochete cell which shows two axial filaments in opposing motion. One axial filament rotates in a clockwise orientation; an adjacent axial filament rotates in a counter-clockwise orientation. Rotation of the endoflagella creates torsion and drives the corkscrew rotation of the cell. Fig. 3: An expanded view of the cellular membranes that surround endoflagellum. Both the inner and outer membrane contain a phospholipid bi-layer, with non-polar fatty acid chains in-ward of polar phosphorus heads. Peptidoglycan, the cell wall, provides structure in bacterial microorganisms. Axial filaments are superior to the peptidoglycan.
A spirochaete (/ˈspaɪroʊˌkiːt/)[4] or spirochete is a member of the phylum Spirochaetota (also called Spirochaetes[5]/ˌspaɪroʊˈkiːtiːz/), which contains distinctive diderm (double-membrane) Gram-negative bacteria, most of which have long, helically coiled (corkscrew-shaped or spiraled, hence the name) cells.[6] Spirochaetes are chemoheterotrophic in nature, with lengths between 3 and 500 μm and diameters around 0.09 to at least 3 μm.[7]
Spirochaetes are distinguished from other bacterial phyla by the location of their flagella, called endoflagella, or periplasmic flagella, which are sometimes called axial filaments.[8][9] Endoflagella are anchored at each end (pole) of the bacterium within the periplasmic space (between the inner and outer membranes) where they project backwards to extend the length of the cell.[10] These cause a twisting motion which allows the spirochaete to move about. When reproducing, a spirochaete will undergo asexual transverse binary fission. Most spirochaetes are free-living and anaerobic, but there are numerous exceptions. Spirochaete bacteria are diverse in their pathogenic capacity and the ecological niches that they inhabit, as well as molecular characteristics including guanine-cytosine content and genome size.[11][12]
^Paster BJ (2010). "Class I. Spirochaetia class. nov.". In Krieg NR, Staley JT, Brown DR, Hedlund BP, Paster BJ (eds.). Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology. Vol. 4—The Bacteroidetes, Spirochaetes, Tenericutes (Mollicutes), Acidobacteria, Fibrobacteres, Fusobacteria, Dictyoglomi, Gemmatimonadetes, Lentisphaerae, Verrucomicrobia, Chlamydiae, and Planctomycetes (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-0-387-68572-4. ISBN 978-0-387-95042-6.
^Oren A, Garrity GM (2020). "Validation list no. 195. List of new names and new combinations previously effectively, but not validly, published". Int J Syst Evol Microbiol. 70 (9): 4844–4847. doi:10.1099/ijsem.0.004366. PMID 32993851. S2CID 222147003.
^Oren A, Garrity GM (2021). "Valid publication of the names of forty-two phyla of prokaryotes". Int J Syst Evol Microbiol. 71 (10): 5056. doi:10.1099/ijsem.0.005056. PMID 34694987. S2CID 239887308.
^"SPIROCHAETE | Meaning & Definition for UK English | Lexico.com". Lexico Dictionaries | English. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021.
^Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary. Elsevier.
^Ryan KJ, Ray CG, eds. (2004). Sherris Medical Microbiology (4th ed.). McGraw Hill. ISBN 978-0-8385-8529-0.
^Margulis L, Ashen JB, Solé M, Guerrero R (August 1993). "Composite, large spirochetes from microbial mats: spirochete structure review". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 90 (15): 6966–6970. Bibcode:1993PNAS...90.6966M. doi:10.1073/pnas.90.15.6966. PMC 47056. PMID 8346204.
^Nakamura S (April 2020). "Spirochete Flagella and Motility". Biomolecules. 10 (4): 550. doi:10.3390/biom10040550. PMC 7225975. PMID 32260454.
^Carroll KC, Hobden JA, Miller S (2019). "Spirochetes and Other Spiral Microorganisms". Jawetz, Melnick, & Adelberg’s Medical Microbiology. McGraw-Hill Education. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
^Madigan MT (2019). Brock biology of microorganisms (Fifteenth, Global ed.). NY, NY: Pearson. p. 519. ISBN 9781292235103.
^Paster BJ (2011). "Phylum XV. Spirochaetes Garrity and Holt.". In Brenner DJ, Krieg NR, Garrity GM, Staley JT (eds.). Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology. New York: Springer. p. 471.
^Paster BJ (2011). "Family I. Sprochaetes Swellengrebel 1907, 581AL.". In Brenner DJ, Krieg NR, Garrity GM, Staley JT (eds.). Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology. New York: Springer. pp. 473–531.
A spirochaete (/ˈspaɪroʊˌkiːt/) or spirochete is a member of the phylum Spirochaetota (also called Spirochaetes /ˌspaɪroʊˈkiːtiːz/), which contains distinctive...
after the initial exposure to Treponema pallidum, the gram-negative spirochaete bacterium causing syphilis, but can range from 10 to 90 days. Without...
preferred mammalian hosts of adult I. scapularis, cannot transmit Borrelia spirochaetes to ticks. Ticks acquire Lyme disease microbes by feeding on infected...
(leptós) 'fine, thin, narrow, etc.', and Latin spira 'coil') is a genus of spirochaete bacteria, including a small number of pathogenic and saprophytic species...
periodontitis which can induce bone loss. This motile bacillus is a spirochaete. It was previously known as Borrelia vincentii (Blanchard, 1906). "Treponema...
others can be spiral-shaped, called spirilla, or tightly coiled, called spirochaetes. A small number of other unusual shapes have been described, such as...
available in the literature. An investigation for infection with the spirochaete Leptospira interrogans did not find any infected animals, suggesting...
the natural cycle of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, the Lyme disease spirochaete". International Journal of Medical Microbiology. 296: 125–128. doi:10...
of material from the lesions (dark-field microscopy). The responsible spirochaete is readily identifiable on sight in a microscope as a treponema. Bejel...
pallidum, formerly known as Spirochaeta pallida, is a microaerophilic spirochaete bacterium with subspecies that cause the diseases syphilis, bejel (also...
condition, often an autoimmune disease. Beck, A. (1939). "The role of the spirochaete in the Wassermann reaction". Journal of Hygiene. 39 (3): 298–310. doi:10...
the natural cycle of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, the Lyme disease spirochaete". International Journal of Medical Microbiology. 296: 125–128. doi:10...
and behave as the primary hosts of many different pathogens such as spirochaetes. Ticks carry various debilitating diseases therefore, ticks may assist...
not transmit this strain of spirochaete. Despite this, there is a strong belief that some kind of Lyme-like spirochaete causes a Lyme-like disease in...
periplasmic flagella inside the outer membrane. They comprise the phylum Spirochaetes. Owing to their morphological properties, spirochetes are difficult to...
Dogs can be infected with Lyme disease (borreliosis), caused by the spirochaete bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi, B. afzelii, and B. garinii. Cattle can...
antibiotic, by changing dyes that selectively stained Treponema pallidum—the spirochaete that causes syphilis—into compounds that selectively killed the pathogen...
by infection with one or more pathogenic European genospecies of the spirochaete B. burgdorferi sensu lato, mainly transmitted by the tick Ixodes ricinus...
latter is also characterised by spirochaete epibiotic symbionts. In other termite species, members of the spirochaete genus Treponema have been identified...
000 base pairs in the soil-dwelling bacterium Sorangium cellulosum. Spirochaetes of the genus Borrelia are a notable exception to this arrangement, with...
Borrelia valaisiana is a spirochaete bacterium; strain VS116 is the type strain. It is a potential pathogen. Wang, G.; Van Dam, A. P.; Fleche, A. L.;...
turicatae is a bacterial species of the spirochaete class of the genus Borrelia. It is one of the relapsing fever spirochaetes, which are globally distributed...
Borrelia recurrentis is a species of Borrelia, a spirochaete bacterium associated with relapsing fever. B. recurrentis is usually transmitted from person...
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