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( Treponema pallidum)
Treponema pallidum is a gram-negative 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. This bacterium is too thin to be visualized with a standard Gram stain so two techniques to visualize it with a light microscope are dark field microscopy and immunofluorescence. 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. The recent sequencing of the genomes of several spirochetes permits a thorough analysis of the similarities and differences within this bacterial phylum. Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum has one of the smallest bacterial genomes at 1.14 million base pairs (Mb) and has limited metabolic capabilities, reflecting its adaptation through genome reduction to the rich environment of mammalian tissue.
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