Spirochetes

Spirochetes are a phylum of fine, spirally wound bacteria . They usually reach a size of 5–250 μm (sometimes up to 500 μm  ). It does not stain very well with conventional bacteriological techniques.

distinguish the following genera of spirochetes:

• • Borrelia ;
  • Leptospira ;
  • Treponema .

Genus Borrelia

Representatives of the genus Borellia are spiral, motile bacteria that are difficult to cultivate on artificial culture media . It dyes well with aniline dyes. They parasitize on humans and animals and their intermediate hosts are arthropods.

Borrelia hermsii

Borrelia hermsii is the cause of recurrent fever , which is mediated by ticks or lice.

Borrelia burgdorferi

Borrelia burgdorferi

More detailed information can be found on the Borrelia burgdorferi website .

Borrelia burgdorferi is a long, spirally coiled bacterium of 4-30 μm  . It causes multiorgan involvement - Lyme disease . Its vectors are infected ticks. Because it is microaerophilic, it requires a complex culture medium (N-acetylglucosamines, amino acids, vitamins, nucleotides). Its generation time is relatively long, namely 12 hours  .

Borrelia recurrentis

Borrelia recurrentis is up to 30 μm long, the bacterium is coiled up to 5–10 irregular threads It is the cause of recurrent fever as well as Borrelia hermsii. The carrier is infected with lice. The moment it multiplies in the host, a fever develops. The fever subsides after a few days. After about 3-10 days  , recurrence occurs (hence its name). A suitable antibiotic is tetracycline .

Genus Leptospira

The genus Leptospira includes spiral, motile bacteria that feed saprophytically or parasitically. They parasitize mainly on animals, they infect humans exceptionally. If an infection occurs, then it mainly affects people working with animals ( anthropozoonosis ).

Leptospira interrogans

Leptospira biflexa

Leptospira biflexa are saprophytic bacteria living in moist soil.

Leptospira interrogans

Leptospira interrogans is a type of bacteria that spreads to all tissues, damages the endothelium , causing hemorrhage and jaundice . It is obligatorily aerobic. Bacteriologists are considering dividing it into 7 species  , which would be related to clinical units. Pathogenicity factors probably include bacterial toxins , cytotoxic factors such as phospholipases, etc. Leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae is the cause of Weil's disease. It grows well in cultures with bovine albumin . Generation time is long. It lasts approximately 7 to 16 hours  .

Affected skin by tropical frambezia

Genus Treponema

The genus Treponema includes spiral motile bacteria, which measure 5–20 μm and have regular threads  . It includes both pathogenic and non-pathogenic species (anaerobic species). Non-pathogenic species occur, for example, in the oral cavity and can trigger a "false alarm" precisely because of their antigenic relationship to pathogens. It has a very long cultivation time in the range of 10 to 30 hours (the longest of the spirochet strain)  .

Treponema pertenue

Treponema pertenue is the causative agent of tropical frambezia. It is characterized by difficult differentiation from Treponemy pallidum and sensitivity to penicillin treatment .

Treponema carateum

Treponema pallidum

Treponema carateum occurs predominantly in America and causes a chronic skin condition called pint. The disease is treated with penicillin .

Treponema pallidum

See the Treponema pallidum page for more information .

Treponema pallidum is indistinguishable in shape and size from other species. It causes a disease called syphilis . It does not grow in culture media or chicken embryos, so intratesticular inoculation (rabbit testes) is used for cultivation. It is very sensitive to external influences.

Leptospira summary video

<mediaplayer width = '450' height = '250'> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYHbQIy-AFY </mediaplayer>

Resources

References

• BEDNÁŘ, Marek, Andrej SOUČEK and Věra FRAŇKOVÁ, et al. Medical microbiology: Bacteriology, virology, parasitology. 1st edition. Prague: Marvil, 1999. 558 pp.  ISBN 8023802976 .

Reference

1. BEDNÁŘ, Marek, Andrej SOUČEK and Věra FRAŇKOVÁ, et al. Medical microbiology: Bacteriology, virology, parasitology. 1st edition. Prague: Marvil, 1999. 558 pp.  ISBN 8023802976 .

BacteriaG +

coke	aerobic Micrococcus Micrococcus luteus Rhodococcus Rhodococcus equi facultatively anaerobic Enterococcus Enterococcus durans • Enterococcus faecalis • Enterococcus faecium Streptococcus Streptococcus agalactiae • Streptococcus mutans • Streptococcus pneumoniae • Streptococcus pyogenes • Streptococcus suis • Oral streptococci Staphylococcus Staphylococcus aureus • Staphylococcus epidermidis • Staphylococcus intermedius • Staphylococcus saprophyticus anaerobic Peptococcus Peptococcus niger Peptostreptococcus Peptostreptococcus anaerobius • Peptostreptococcus prevotii • Peptostreptococcus vaginalis
sticks	aerobic + facultative anaerobic Arcanobacter Arcanobacterium haemolyticum Bacillus Bacillus anthracis • Bacillus cereus Corynebacterium Corynebacterium diphtheriae • Corynebacterium jeikeium • Corynebacterium ulcerans • Corynebacterium urealyticum Erysipelothrix Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae Listeria Listeria monocytogenes Nocardia Nocardia asteroides • Nocardia brasiliensis Rhodococcus Rhodococcus equi anaerobic Actinomyces Actinomyces israeli • Actinomyces naeslundi Bifidobacterium Bifidobacterium dentium Clostridium Clostridium botulinum • Clostridium difficile • Clostridium novyi • Clostridium tetani • Clostridium perfringens • Clostridium septicum • Clostridium ulcerans Lactobacillus Lactobacillus acidophilus Propionibacterium Propionibacterium acnes • Propionibacterium propionicus

Go

coke	aerobic Acinetobacter Acinetobacter calcoaceticus Moraxella Moraxella catarrhalis • Moraxella lacunata Neisseria Neisseria gonorrhoeae • Neisseria meningitidis • Non-pathogenic species of Neisseria anaerobic Veillonella Veillonella alcalescens • Veillonella parvula
cocobacilli	aerobic Rickettsia Rickettsia prowazekii • Rickettsia rickettsii • Rickettsia typhi
sticks	aerobic Alcaligentes Alkaligentes feacalis Bartonella Bartonella bacilliformis • Bartonella henselae • Bartonella quintana Bordetella Bordetella bronchiseptica • Bordetella parapertussis • Bordetella pertussis Brucella Brucella abortus • Brucella canis • Brucella melitensis • Brucella suis Burkholderia Burkholderia cepacia • Burkholderia mallei • Burkholderia pseudomallei Francisella Francisella tularensis Legionella Legionella pneumophila Kingella Kingella denitrificans • Kingella kingae • Kingella oralis Pseudomonas Pseudomonas aeruginosa • Pseudomonas fluorescens Stenotrophomonas Stenotrophomonas maltophilia facultatively anaerobic Actinobacillus Actinobacillus equli • Actinobacillus lignieresii Aeromonas Aermonas caviae • Aeromonas hydrophila • Aeromonas sobria Afipia Afipia felis Citrobacter Citrobacter freundi • Citrobacter koseri Eikenella Eikenella corrodens Enterobacter Enterobacter aerogenes • Enterobacter cloacae Escherichia Escherichia coli Haemophilus Haemophilus ducreyi • Haemophilus haemolyticus • Haemophilus influenzae • Haemophilus parainfluenzae Klebsiella Klebsiella granulomatis • Klebsiella oxytoca • Klebsiella pneumoniae Pasteurella Pasteurella haemolytica • Pasteurella multocida • Pasteurella ureae Plesiomonas Plesiomonas shigelloides Proteus Proteus mirabilis • Proteus vulgaris Salmonella Salmonella Enteritidis • Salmonella Typhi • Salmonella Paratyphi Serratia Serratia marcescens Shigella Shigella boydii • Shigella dysenteriae • Shigella flexneri • Shigella sonnei Vibrio Vibrio cholerae • Vibrio parahemolyticus Yersinia Yersinia enterocolitica • Yersinia pestis • Yersinia pseudotuberculosis microaerophilic Campylobacter Campylobacter coli • Campylobacter fetus • Campylobacter jejuni Helicobacter Helicobacter pylori anaerobic Bacteroides Bacteroides fragilis • Bacteroides vulgatus Fusobacterium Fusobacterium necrophorum • Fusobacterium nucleatum • Fusobacterium stabile Leptotricha Leptotricha buccalis Mobiluncus Mobiluncus curtisii • Mobiluncus mulieris Prevotella Prevotella melaninogenica Porphyromonas Porphyromonas gingivalis

acid resistant

sticks

aerobic Mycobacterium Atypical mycobacteria • Mycobacterium tuberculosis • Mycobacterium leprae

non-stainable G +/-

spiral

strictly aerobic Leptospira Leptospira biflexa • Leptospira interrogans • Leptospira parva microaerophilic Borrelia Borrelia burgdorferi • Borrelia hermsi • Borrelia recurrentis • Borrelia vincenti strictly anaerobic Treponema Non-pathogenic treponems • Treponema carateum • Treponema pallidum • Treponema phagedenis • Treponema pertenue