Spirochetes

From WikiLectures

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[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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

Borrelia burgdorferi

Borrelia burgdorferi[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

Leptospira biflexa are saprophytic bacteria living in moist soil.

Leptospira interrogans[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

Treponema pallidum

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

Treponema pallidum[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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


Resources[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

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

Reference[edit | edit source]

  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 duransEnterococcus faecalisEnterococcus faecium
Streptococcus Streptococcus agalactiaeStreptococcus mutansStreptococcus pneumoniaeStreptococcus pyogenesStreptococcus suisOral streptococci
Staphylococcus Staphylococcus aureusStaphylococcus epidermidisStaphylococcus intermediusStaphylococcus saprophyticus
anaerobic
Peptococcus Peptococcus niger
Peptostreptococcus Peptostreptococcus anaerobiusPeptostreptococcus prevotiiPeptostreptococcus vaginalis
sticks
aerobic + facultative anaerobic
Arcanobacter Arcanobacterium haemolyticum
Bacillus Bacillus anthracisBacillus cereus
Corynebacterium Corynebacterium diphtheriaeCorynebacterium jeikeiumCorynebacterium ulceransCorynebacterium urealyticum
Erysipelothrix Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae
Listeria Listeria monocytogenes
Nocardia Nocardia asteroidesNocardia brasiliensis
Rhodococcus Rhodococcus equi
anaerobic
Actinomyces Actinomyces israeli • Actinomyces naeslundi
Bifidobacterium Bifidobacterium dentium
Clostridium Clostridium botulinumClostridium difficileClostridium novyiClostridium tetaniClostridium perfringensClostridium septicumClostridium ulcerans
Lactobacillus Lactobacillus acidophilus
Propionibacterium Propionibacterium acnesPropionibacterium propionicus

Go

coke
aerobic
Acinetobacter Acinetobacter calcoaceticus
Moraxella Moraxella catarrhalisMoraxella lacunata
Neisseria Neisseria gonorrhoeaeNeisseria meningitidisNon-pathogenic species of Neisseria
anaerobic
Veillonella Veillonella alcalescensVeillonella parvula
cocobacilli
aerobic
Rickettsia Rickettsia prowazekiiRickettsia rickettsiiRickettsia typhi
sticks
aerobic
Alcaligentes Alkaligentes feacalis
Bartonella Bartonella bacilliformisBartonella henselaeBartonella quintana
Bordetella Bordetella bronchisepticaBordetella parapertussisBordetella pertussis
Brucella Brucella abortusBrucella canisBrucella melitensisBrucella suis
Burkholderia Burkholderia cepaciaBurkholderia malleiBurkholderia pseudomallei
Francisella Francisella tularensis
Legionella Legionella pneumophila
Kingella Kingella denitrificansKingella kingaeKingella oralis
Pseudomonas Pseudomonas aeruginosaPseudomonas fluorescens
Stenotrophomonas Stenotrophomonas maltophilia
facultatively anaerobic
Actinobacillus Actinobacillus equliActinobacillus lignieresii
Aeromonas Aermonas caviaeAeromonas hydrophilaAeromonas sobria
Afipia Afipia felis
Citrobacter Citrobacter freundiCitrobacter koseri
Eikenella Eikenella corrodens
Enterobacter Enterobacter aerogenesEnterobacter cloacae
Escherichia Escherichia coli
Haemophilus Haemophilus ducreyiHaemophilus haemolyticusHaemophilus influenzaeHaemophilus parainfluenzae
Klebsiella Klebsiella granulomatisKlebsiella oxytocaKlebsiella pneumoniae
Pasteurella Pasteurella haemolyticaPasteurella multocidaPasteurella ureae
Plesiomonas Plesiomonas shigelloides
Proteus Proteus mirabilisProteus vulgaris
Salmonella Salmonella EnteritidisSalmonella TyphiSalmonella Paratyphi
Serratia Serratia marcescens
Shigella Shigella boydiiShigella dysenteriaeShigella flexneriShigella sonnei
Vibrio Vibrio choleraeVibrio parahemolyticus
Yersinia Yersinia enterocoliticaYersinia pestisYersinia pseudotuberculosis
microaerophilic
Campylobacter Campylobacter coliCampylobacter fetusCampylobacter jejuni
Helicobacter Helicobacter pylori
anaerobic
Bacteroides Bacteroides fragilisBacteroides vulgatus
Fusobacterium Fusobacterium necrophorumFusobacterium nucleatumFusobacterium stabile
Leptotricha Leptotricha buccalis
Mobiluncus Mobiluncus curtisiiMobiluncus mulieris
Prevotella Prevotella melaninogenica
Porphyromonas Porphyromonas gingivalis

acid resistant

sticks
aerobic
Mycobacterium Atypical mycobacteriaMycobacterium tuberculosisMycobacterium leprae

non-stainable G +/-

spiral
strictly aerobic
Leptospira Leptospira biflexaLeptospira interrogansLeptospira parva
microaerophilic
Borrelia Borrelia burgdorferiBorrelia hermsiBorrelia recurrentisBorrelia vincenti
strictly anaerobic
Treponema Non-pathogenic treponemsTreponema carateumTreponema pallidumTreponema phagedenisTreponema pertenue

Portal: Microbiology