ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2017
Complete genome sequences of two strains of Treponema pallidum subsp. pertenue from Ghana, Africa: Identical genome sequences in samples isolated more than 7 years apart.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sequence variability of BamA and FadL candidate vaccinogens suggests divergent evolutionary paths ofJournal of bacteriology · 2025Article
- Resistance to ceftriaxone and penicillin G among contemporary syphilis strains confirmed by natural in vitro mutagenesis.Communications medicine · 2025Article
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- The hare syphilis agent is related to, but distinct from, the treponeme causing rabbit syphilis.PloS one · 2024Article
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- The genomes of the yaws bacterium, Treponema pallidum subsp. pertenue, of nonhuman primate and human origin are not genomically distinct.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2023Article
- A Systematic Review on Suitability of Molecular Techniques for Diagnosis and Research into Infectious Diseases of Concern in Resource-Limited Settings.Current issues in molecular biology · 2022Review
- Whole genome sequences of Treponema pallidum subsp. endemicum isolated from Cuban patients: The non-clonal character of isolates suggests a persistent human infection rather than a single outbreak.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Article
- Treponema pallidum genome sequencing from six continents reveals variability in vaccine candidate genes and dominance of Nichols clade strains in Madagascar.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2021Article
- Geographically structured genomic diversity of non-human primate-infectingMicrobial genomics · 2020Article
- A treponemal genome from an historic plague victim supports a recent emergence of yaws and its presence in 15Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Epidemic of venereal treponematosis in wild monkeys: a paradigm for syphilis origin.New microbes and new infections · 2020Article
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- Strain diversity of Treponema pallidum subsp. pertenue suggests rare interspecies transmission in African nonhuman primates.Scientific reports · 2019Article
- Genomic epidemiology of syphilis reveals independent emergence of macrolide resistance across multiple circulating lineages.Nature communications · 2019Article
- Identification of positively selected genes in human pathogenic treponemes: Syphilis-, yaws-, and bejel-causing strains differ in sets of genes showing adaptive evolution.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2019Article
- Directly Sequenced Genomes of Contemporary Strains of Syphilis Reveal Recombination-Driven Diversity in Genes Encoding Predicted Surface-Exposed Antigens.Frontiers in microbiology · 2019Article
- Complete genome sequences of two strains of Treponema pallidum subsp. pertenue from Indonesia: Modular structure of several treponemal genes.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2018Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTreponema pallidum subsp. pertenue (TPE) is the causative agent of yaws, a multi-stage disease, endemic in tropical regions of Africa, Asia, Oceania, and South America. To date, four TPE strains have been completely sequenced including three TPE strains of human origin (Samoa D, CDC-2, and Gauthier) and one TPE strain (Fribourg-Blanc) isolated from a baboon. All TPE strains are highly similar to T. pallidum subsp. pallidum (TPA) strains. The mutation rate in syphilis and related treponemes has not been experimentally determined yet. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL
findingsComplete genomes of two TPE strains, CDC 2575 and Ghana-051, that infected patients in Ghana and were isolated in 1980 and 1988, respectively, were sequenced and analyzed. Both strains had identical consensus genome nucleotide sequences raising the question whether TPE CDC 2575 and Ghana-051 represent two different strains. Several lines of evidence support the fact that both strains represent independent samples including regions showing intrastrain heterogeneity (13 and 5 intrastrain heterogeneous sites in TPE Ghana-051 and TPE CDC 2575, respectively). Four of these heterogeneous sites were found in both genomes but the frequency of alternative alleles differed. The identical consensus genome sequences were used to estimate the upper limit of the yaws treponeme evolution rate, which was 4.1 x 10-10 nucleotide changes per site per generation. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The estimated upper limit for the mutation rate of TPE was slightly lower than the mutation rate of E. coli, which was determined during a long-term experiment. Given the known diversity between TPA and TPE genomes and the assumption that both TPA and TPE have a similar mutation rate, the most recent common ancestor of syphilis and yaws treponemes appears to be more than ten thousand years old and likely even older.
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