ArticlePloS one2020
Whole genome sequence of the Treponema pallidum subsp. endemicum strain Iraq B: A subpopulation of bejel treponemes contains full-length tprF and tprG genes similar to those present in T. p. subsp. pertenue strains.
Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Whole-Genome Analysis of Treponema pallidum Subspecies endemicum among Men Who Have Sex with Men, Japan, 2020-2023.Emerging infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Insights into Treponema pallidum genomics from modern and ancient genomes using a novel mapping strategy.BMC biology · 2025Article
- Article
- The hare syphilis agent is related to, but distinct from, the treponeme causing rabbit syphilis.PloS one · 2024Article
- 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
- Evolutionary Processes in the Emergence and Recent Spread of the Syphilis Agent, Treponema pallidum.Molecular biology and evolution · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Treponema pallidum subsp. endemicum (TEN) is the causative agent of endemic syphilis (bejel). Until now, only a single TEN strain, Bosnia A, has been completely sequenced. The only other laboratory TEN strain available, Iraq B, was isolated in Iraq in 1951 by researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In this study, the complete genome of the Iraq B strain was amplified as overlapping PCR products and sequenced using the pooled segment genome sequencing method and Illumina sequencing. Total average genome sequencing coverage reached 3469×, with a total genome size of 1,137,653 bp. Compared to the genome sequence of Bosnia A, a set of 37 single nucleotide differences, 4 indels, 2 differences in the number of tandem repetitions, and 18 differences in the length of homopolymeric regions were found in the Iraq B genome. Moreover, the tprF and tprG genes that were previously found deleted in the genome of the TEN Bosnia A strain (spanning 2.3 kb in length) were present in a subpopulation of TEN Iraq B and Bosnia A microbes, and their sequence was highly similar to those found in T. p. subsp. pertenue strains, which cause the disease yaws. The genome sequence of TEN Iraq B revealed close genetic relatedness between both available bejel-causing laboratory strains (i.e., Iraq B and Bosnia A) and also genetic variability within the bejel treponemes comparable to that found within yaws- or syphilis-causing strains. In addition, genetic relatedness to TPE strains was demonstrated by the sequence of the tprF and tprG genes found in subpopulations of both TEN Iraq B and Bosnia A. The loss of the tprF and tprG genes in most TEN microbes suggest that TEN genomes have been evolving via the loss of genomic regions, a phenomenon previously found among the treponemes causing both syphilis and rabbit syphilis.
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