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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1984

Antigenic cross-reactivity between Treponema pallidum and other pathogenic members of the family Spirochaetaceae.

The antigenic cross-reactivity between Treponema pallidum and several pathogenic members of the family Spirochaetaceae was examined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blotting techniques. Blots of T. pallidum antigens were incubated with antiserum from rabbits infected or immunized with T. pallidum, Treponema paraluiscuniculi, Treponema hyodysenteriae (strains B204 and T22), Borrelia hermsii serotype 7, or Leptopsira interrogans serogroup Canicola. T. pallidum contained 22 antigenic molecules ranging from 85,000 to 12,000 daltons which were recognized by serum from rabbits infected with T. pallidum. Serum from rabbits infected with T. paraluiscuniculi cross-reacted with 21 of these molecules and faintly reacted with a band at 15,000 daltons which was not recognized by anti-T. pallidum serum. Antisera directed against strains B204 and T22 of T. hyodysenteriae cross-reacted with 11 and 10 antigens of T. pallidum, respectively. B. hermsii and L. interrogans serogroup Canicola antisera detected 11 and 10 treponemal antigens, respectively. Many of the T. pallidum antigens detected by antisera against T. hyodysenteriae, B. hermsii, or L. interrogans serogroup Canicola have been previously identified as containing moieties also found on the nonpathogenic Treponema phagedenis, biotype Reiter, and may therefore represent group antigens common to members of the family Spirochaetaceae.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Isolation of Borrelia burgdorferi (Spirochaetales: Spirochaetaceae) from Ixodes scapularis and Dermacentor albipictus ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) in Oklahoma.

Borrelia burgdorferi was isolated from Ixodes scapularis Say and Dermacentor albipictus Packard that were removed as partially fed adults from white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus Zimmermann, in Oklahoma. Isolation in media was accomplished only after homogenates of pooled field-collected ticks were inoculated into laboratory-reared Peromyscus leucopus and reisolated from the urinary bladder into BSK II media. Both isolates were confirmed by western blot analysis and reactivity with monoclonal antibody H5332. These are the first reported isolates of B. burgdorferi from Oklahoma from these two tick species and are the first isolates from ticks from the south-central United States that were infective for laboratory-reared P. leucopus.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Attempted transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi (Spirochaetales: Spirochaetaceae) (JDI strain) by Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae), Dermacentor variabilis, and Amblyomma americanum.

Laboratory-reared Ixodes scapularis Say, Amblyomma americanum (L.), and Dermacentor variabilis (Say) were fed on New Zealand white rabbits experimentally infected with Borrelia burgdorferi (JDI strain). At repletion, spirochetes could be detected by dark-field microscopy only in I. scapularis. Acquisition rates were 18 and 21%. When previously exposed nymphs of each species were fed on susceptible rabbits, I. scapularis was the only tick of the three species that transmitted B. burgdorferi. When a single rabbit was experimentally infected with B. burgdorferi and infested at 7-d intervals with I. scapularis, A. americanum, D. variabilis, and a second time with I. scapularis, B. burgdorferi was detected again only in cultures from the two groups of I. scapularis. When molted nymphs from each tick species were allowed to feed on susceptible rabbits, spirochetes again were isolated only at necropsy from the rabbits on which the two groups of I. scapularis fed.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Adhesion to and invasion of cultured tick (Acarina: Ixodidae) cells by Borrelia burgdorferi (Spirochaetales: Spirochaetaceae) and maintenance of infectivity.

Lyme disease spirochetes, Borrelia burgdorferi, interact with cultured tick cells in ways similar to those reported to occur in the vector Ixodes dammini Spielman, Clifford, Piesman & Corwin. Spirochete adhesion and penetration were examined using a cell line from embryos of Rhipicephalus appendiculatus Neumann that morphologically resembles tick gut cells, RAE25. Cocultivation of B. burgdorferi with these cells permitted prolonged maintenance of infectivity for hamsters. Borrelial adherence to RAE25 cells was time- and density-dependent and increased by 10-15% per h during the first 5.5 h of cocultivation when we used a concentration of 4 x 10(7) spirochetes/ml. After 6 h, > 90% of the cells bound an average of 3-5 spirochetes per cell. Low passage, hamster-infective strains of B. burgdorferi (JMNT and CD16) showed a 2-3-fold higher rate of adhesion to RAE25 cells than the highly passaged, noninfectious strain B31. Inactivation of CD16 or JMNT by heat, starvation, or treatment with puromycin reduced adherence by 40-60%, whereas pretreatment with monoclonal antibodies to the outer surface proteins had no effect. Spirochetes adhered to young I. dammini cell lines to a similar degree as they did to RAE25, whereas lines from the ticks Dermacentor variabilis (Say) (RML15) and Boophilus microplus (Canestrini) (BME26) bound 30-60% fewer spirochetes. Electron microscopy revealed epicellular borreliae associated with coated pits and vesicles before endocytosis, and intracellular spirochetes were surrounded by a host cell-derived membrane.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Competence of Peromyscus maniculatus (Rodentia: Cricetidae) as a reservoir host for Borrelia burgdorferi (Spirochaetares: Spirochaetaceae) in the wild.

Although capable of maintaining and transmitting Borrelia burgdorferi Johnson, Schmidt, Hyde, Steigerwalt & Brenner, the causative spirochete of Lyme disease, in the laboratory, the specific ability of deer mice, Peromyscus maniculatus Le Conte, to support this zoonosis has not been established. Demonstration that P. maniculatus is a competent reservoir host in the wild would indicate that the spread of Lyme disease is not limited to the range of the primary reservoir host, P. leucopus Rafinesque. Isle au Haut, an offshore Maine island upon which the vector tick Ixodes dammini Spielman, Clifford, Piesman & Corwin has become established, supports an isolated population of mice that are exclusively P. maniculatus. We examined the reservoir competence of this species by comparing infection rates of B. burgdorferi among juvenile ticks removed from livetrapped mice on this island with those removed from P. leucopus obtained at a mainland site endemic for Lyme disease. Equivalent rates of infection among engorged larval ticks, survival of infection through the larval-nymphal molt, and the isolation of B. burgdorferi from mice at both sites attest to the reservoir competence of P. maniculatus.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Prevalence of Borrelia (Spirochaetaceae) spirochetes in Texas ticks.

Between 1990 and 1992, ticks from eight Texas parks were collected and analyzed to determine the prevalence of spirochete-infected ticks. Borrelia spirochetes were detected in 1.03% of 5,141 Amblyomma americanum (L.) adults examined, a species Texas residents often encounter. No spirochetes were observed in the other tick species tested.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) and spirochetes (spirochaetaceae: spirochaetales) recovered from birds on a Georgia Barrier Island.

From September 1997 through July 1999, 300 individuals and 46 species of birds were mist-netted and screened for ticks and spirochetes on St. Catherine's Island, Liberty County, GA. Seventy-six (25%) of the birds were parasitized by a meal intensity of 4.6 ticks. Seasonally, more birds were infested with ticks during the summer (50% in 1998, 34% in 1999) than in spring (15% in 1998, 11% in 1999) or fall (21% in 1997, 20% in 1998), mainly because of severe infestations on some birds by immature stages of the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum (L.), during this season. Eight species ofticks were recovered from 14 species of birds during this study: A. americanum (74 nymphs, 168 larvae); the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis Say (11 nymphs, 28 larvae), the Gulf Coast tick, Amblyomma maculatum Koch (two nymphs, 29 larvae); Ixodes minor Neumann (16 larvae); the rabbit tick. Haemaphysalis leporispalustris (Packard) (one nymph, 14 larvae); the bird tick Ixodes brunneus Koch (two larvae); the American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis (Say) (one nymph); and Ixodes affinis Neumann (one larva). The Carolina wren was parasitized by more species of ticks (seven) than any other bird species, followed by the northern cardinal (five), white-throated sparrow (four) and painted bunting (three). Spirochetes were isolated in BSK II medium from one tick (a nymphal A. americanum) and from skin biopsies of 12 (4%) of the individual birds (three downy woodpeckers, three northern waterthrushes, two Carolina wrens, one American redstart, one pine warbler, one Swainson's thrush, and one white-eyed vireo) all in fall 1997. This concentrated phenology of spirochete isolations might reflect periodic amplification or recrudescence of spirochetes in reservoir avian hosts.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

The prevalence of Borrelia burgdorfieri (Spirochaetales: spirochaetaceae) and the agent of human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (Rickettsiaceae: Ehrlichieae) in Ixodes scapularis (Acari:Ixodidae) collected during 1998 and 1999 from Minnesota.

We tested 103 adult Ixodes scapularis Say from 12 counties in Minnesota for the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi and the causative agent of human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE), using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A total of 17 ticks (16.5%) was positive for B. burgdoiferi using nested PCR for the flagellin gene. or both PCR for the ospA gene and nested PCR for the flagellin gene. A total of four ticks (3.8%) was positive for the agent of HGE using nested PCR for 16S rDNA. Counties in Minnesota with established and recently reported populations of I. scapularis both had ticks infected with B. burgdorferi. The agent of HGE was only detected in counties with established I. scapularis populations.

Anaplasmataceae↗
PubMed2001

The impact of fermentative organisms on carbon flow in methanogenic systems under constant low-substrate conditions.

We compared carbon flow under constant low-substrate conditions (below 20 microM glucose in situ) in laboratory-scale glucose-fed methanogenic bioreactors containing two very different microbial communities that removed chemical oxygen demand at similar rates. One community contained approximately equal proportions of spiral and cocci morphologies, while the other community was dominated by cocci. In the former bioreactor, over 50% of the cloned SSU rRNA genes and the most common SSU rDNA terminal restriction fragment corresponded to Spirochaetaceae-related sequences, while in the latter bioreactor over 50% of the cloned SSU rRNA genes and the most common SSU rDNA terminal restriction fragment corresponded to Streptococcus-related sequences. Carbon flow was assessed by measuring 14C-labeled metabolites derived from a feeding of [U-14C]glucose that did not alter the concentration of glucose in the bioreactors. Acetate and ethanol were detected in the Spirochaetaceae-dominated reactor, whereas acetate and propionate were detected in the Streptococcus-dominated reactor. A spirochete isolated from a Spirochaetaceae-dominated reactor fermented glucose to acetate, ethanol, and small amounts of lactate. Maximum substrate utilization assays carried out on fluid from the same reactor indicated that acetate and ethanol were rapidly utilized by this community. These data indicate that an acetate- and ethanol-based food chain was present in the Spirochaetaceae-dominated bioreactor, while the typical acetate- and propionate-based food chain was prevalent in the Streptococcus-dominated bioreactor.

Acetates↗
PubMed1989

[Classification of spirochetes infecting man].

The systematics od spirochetes must from now own fulfil the genomic criteria recently laid down. Formerly, these parasites were classified on the basis of various phenotypic features, among which the pathogenicity and epidemiological criteria played the predominant role. At present, the order of Spirochaetales is divided into two families: Spirochaetaceae and Leptospiraceae. Two of the four genera of Spirochaetaceae, Treponema and Borrelia, include species that are pathogenic to man. Among Leptospiraceae, only one genus, Leptospira, has pathogenic species. The phenotypic characteristics of the various taxons are detailed, the role of each actor (causative agent, vector, reservoir) in the main pathological complexes and the progress of genotypic studies are briefly described.

Humans↗
PubMed1984

Chemical compositions of cell walls and polysaccharide fractions of spirochetes.

Cellular polysaccharide fractions of various representative members of genera of the family Spirochaetaceae were obtained by the ammonium hydroxide extraction method. The sugar composition of the polysaccharide preparations was complex and many kinds of sugars such as rhamnose, fucose, ribose, xylose, mannose, galactose, and glucose were detected in all of the spirochetes tested. Of particular interest was the presence of 4-O-methylmannose as a constituent polysaccharide in members of the genus Leptospira. This sugar was not detected in the polysaccharides of Spirochaeta, Borrelia, and Treponema. The chemical compositions of cell wall fractions were also examined. 4-O-Methylmannose was detected in the cell wall polysaccharides of the genus Leptospira but not in cell walls prepared from the Spirochaeta, Borrelia, and Treponema. The diaminopimelic acid present in cell wall peptidoglycans of the genus Leptospira was meso-diaminopimelic acid (A2pm). The molar ratios of alanine, glutamic acid, A2pm, glycine, muramic acid, and glucosamine in leptospiral cell walls were found to be approximately 2:1:1:1:1:1. In contrast to the Leptospira, the peptidoglycans of genera Spirochaeta, Borrelia, and Treponema contained ornithine (Orn) but not A2pm. Since 4-O-methylmannose and A2pm were found in the cell wall fractions of genus Leptospira but not in Spirochaeta, Borrelia, or Treponema, it was suggested that the chemical compositions of the cell wall might become an important criterion for the chemotaxonomy of Spirochaetales.

Carbohydrates↗
PubMed2003

High 16S rDNA bacterial diversity in glacial meltwater lake sediment, Bratina Island, Antarctica.

The microbial diversity in maritime meltwater pond sediments from Bratina Island, Ross Sea, Antarctica was investigated by 16S rDNA-dependent molecular phylogeny. Investigations of the vertical distribution, phylogenetic composition, and spatial variability of Bacteria and Archaea in the sediment were carried out. Results revealed the presence of a highly diverse bacterial population and a significantly depth-related composition. Assessment of 173 partial 16S rDNA clones analyzed by amplified rDNA restriction analysis (ARDRA) using tetrameric restriction enzymes (HinP1I 5'G/CGC3'and Msp I. 5'C/CGG3', BioLabs) revealed 153 different bacterial OTUs (operational taxonomic units). However, only seven archaeal OTUs were detected, indicating low archaeal diversity. Based on ARDRA results, 30 bacterial clones were selected for sequencing and the sequenced clones fell into seven major lineages of the domain Bacteria; the alpha, gamma, and delta subdivisions of Proteobacteria, the Cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides, the Spirochaetaceae, and the Actinobacteria. All of the archaeal clones sequenced belonged to the group Crenarchaeota and phylogenetic analysis revealed close relationships with members of the deep-branching Group 1 Marine Archaea.

Actinobacteria↗
PubMed1991

Borrelia burgdorferi: another cause of foodborne illness?

Borrelia burgdorferi was identified as the etiological agent of Lyme disease in 1982. This Gram-negative spirochete is classified in the order Spirochaetales and the family Spirochaetaceae. The pathogen is fastidious, microaerophilic, mesophilic and metabolises glucose through the Embden-Meyerhof pathway. A generation time of 11 to 12 h at 37 degrees C in Barbour-Stoenner-Kelly medium has been reported. Lyme disease, named after Lyme in Connecticut, is distributed globally. It is the most commonly reported vector-borne disease in the United States, where the incidence is highest in the eastern and midwestern states. Since establishment of national surveillance in 1982, there has been a nine-fold increase in the number of cases reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The deer tick of the genus Ixodes is the primary vector of Lyme borreliosis. The tick may become infected with B. burgdorferi, by feeding on an infected host, at any point in its 2-year life cycle which involves larval, nymphal and adult stages. The infection rate in deer ticks may be as high as 40% in endemic areas. The primary vertebrate reservoirs for Ixodes are the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) and the white-tailed deer (Odocopileus virginianus). Dairy cattle and other food animals can be infected with B. burgdorferi and hence some raw foods of animal origin might be contaminated with the pathogen. Recent findings indicate that the pathogen may be transmitted orally to laboratory animals, without an arthropod vector. Thus, the possibility exists that Lyme disease can be a food infection. In humans, the symptoms of Lyme disease, which manifest themselves days to years after the onset of infection, may involve the skin, cardiac, nervous and/or muscular systems, and so misdiagnosis can occur.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Taxonomy and virulence of oral spirochetes.

All oral spirochetes are classified in the genus Treponema. This genus is in the family Spirochaetaceae as in Bergey's manual of systematic bacteriology. Other generic members of the family include Spirochaeta, Cristispira and Borrelia. This conventional classification is in accord with phylogenetic analysis of the spirochetes based on 16S rRNA cataloguing. The oral spirochetes fall naturally within the grouping of Treponema. Only four species of Treponema have been cultivated and maintained reliably: Treponema denticola, Treponema pectinovorum, Treponema socranskii and Treponema vincentii. These species have valid names according to the rules of nomenclature except for Treponema vincentii, which only has had effective publication. The virulence factors of the oral spirochetes updated in this mini-review have been discussed within the following broad confines: adherence, cytotoxic effects, iron sequestration and locomotion. T. denticola has been shown to attach to human gingival fibroblasts, basement membrane proteins, as well as other substrates by specific attachment mechanisms. The binding of the spirochete to human gingival fibroblasts resulted in cytotoxicity and cell death due to enzymes and other proteins. Binding of the spirochete to erythrocytes was accompanied by agglutination and lysis. Hemolysis releases hemin, which is sequestered by an outer membrane sheath receptor protein of the spirochete. The ability to locomote through viscous environments enables spirochetes to migrate within gingival crevicular fluid and to penetrate sulcular epithelial linings and gingival connective tissue. The virulence factors of the oral spirochetes proven in vitro underscore the important role they play in the periodontal disease process. This role has been evaluated in vivo by use of a murine model.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

[Chronic erythema migrans and tick-transmitted meningopolyneuritis (Garin-Bujadoux-Bannwarth): Borrelia infections?].

Antibodies against Borrelia duttoni using indirect immunofluorescence could be demonstrated in 6 patients with erythema chronicum migrans and in 8 persons with tick-borne meningopolyneuritis. Significant increases of IgG and IgM antibody titres in the course of the disease and IgG antibodies in the CSF indicate recent contact with Borrelia duttoni or a closely related agent. Demonstration by fluorescence serology of spirochaetaceae in Ixodes ricinus in two sites of infection equally indicate such an aetiology. The immunofluorescence test for patient sera used here improves the diagnosis of erythema chronicum migrans infection and of its various organ manifestations. Results are similar to those in Lyme disease in the United States.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Utilization of ammonia nitrogen by intestinal bacteria isolated from pigs.

In a medium containing ammonia, proteose peptone, and cysteine as nitrogen sources, 17 of 24 Bacteroidaceae strains, 3 of Selenomonas strains, 1 of 7 curved rods, 3 of 7 Spirochaetaceae strains, 8 of 20 Eubacterium strains, 8 of 13 Peptococcaceae strains, 3 of 4 Clostridium strains, 19 of 20 Enterobacteriaceae strains, and 1 of 8 Streptococcus strains utilized ammonia nitrogen preferentially to proteose peptone nitrogen. To determine the ability of intestinal microbes to synthesize amino acids from ammonia, ammonia utilization by Bacteroides ruminicola strain 9 was studied in defined media containing ammonia and other nitrogen sources. In another medium containing ammonia, proteose peptone, and cysteine as nitrogen sources, ammonia was preferentially utilized even when the proteose peptone nitrogen content was eight times greater than that of ammonia nitrogen. In a medium containing ammonia, an amino acid, and cysteine, the lowest uptake of ammonia nitrogen was observed when the medium contained aspartic acid, glutamic acid, threonine, or alanine; but ammonia was utilized more effectively than any of the amino acids. Incorporation of (15)N from [(15)N]ammonia into bacterial amino acids was studied. (15)N was incorporated into every amino acid of B. ruminicola strain 9, and the highest uptake was observed in aspartic acid and alanine.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1996

Phylogenetic position of the spirochetal genus Cristispira.

Comparative sequence analysis of 16S rRNA genes was used to determine the phylogenetic relationship of the genus Cristispira to other spirochetes. Since Cristispira organisms cannot presently be grown in vitro, 16S rRNA genes were amplified directly from bacterial DNA isolated from Cristispira cell-laden crystalline styles of the oyster Crassostrea virginica. The amplified products were then cloned into Escherichia coli plasmids. Sequence comparisons of the gene coding for 16S rRNA (rDNA) insert of one clone, designated CP1, indicated that it was spirochetal. The sequence of the 16S rDNA insert of another clone was mycoplasmal. The CP1 sequence possessed most of the individual base signatures that are unique to 16S rRNA (or rDNA) sequences of known spirochetes. CP1 branched deeply among other spirochetal genera within the family Spirochaetaceae, and accordingly, it represents a separate genus within this family. A fluorescently labeled DNA probe designed from the CP1 sequence was used for in situ hybridization experiments to verify that the sequence obtained was derived from the observed Cristispira cells.

In Situ Hybridization↗
PubMed1991

Analysis of outer membrane ultrastructure of pathogenic Treponema and Borrelia species by freeze-fracture electron microscopy.

We analyzed the outer membrane (OM) ultrastructure of four pathogenic members of the family Spirochaetaceae by freeze fracture. The OM of Treponema pallidum subsp. pertenue contained a low intramembranous particle concentration, indicating that it contains few OM transmembrane proteins. The concave OM fracture faces of Treponema hyodysenteriae and Borrelia burgdorferi contained dense populations of particles, typical of gram-negative organisms. A relatively low concentration of particles which were evenly divided between a small and a large species was present in the concave OM fracture face of Borrelia hermsii; the convex OM fracture face contained only small particles. As for gram-negative bacteria, the convex OM fracture face particle concentrations of these pathogens were low. These spirochetes cleaved preferentially within the OM, in contrast to typical gram-negative bacteria, which tend to fracture within the inner membrane. The OM ultrastructure of T. pallidum subsp. pertenue provides an explanation for the lack of antigenicity of the treponemal surface and may reflect a mechanism by which this pathogen evades the host immune response.

Borrelia↗