Treponema is a genus of spiral-shaped bacteria. The major treponeme species of human pathogens is Treponema pallidum, whose subspecies are responsible for diseases such as syphilis, bejel, and yaws.
Pathogenicity across species
Only some species of Treponema are pathogenic in humans. Treponema carateum is the cause of pinta which occurs primarily in Central and South America. Treponema paraluiscuniculi is associated with syphilis in rabbits but is not infectious in humans. Treponema succinifaciens has been found in the gut microbiome of traditional rural human populations. Treponema pallidum subspecies endemicum and T. p. ssp pertenue are only moderately invasive in humans (as opposed to T. pallidum pallidum which is highly invasive).
↑Norris, S. J.; Cox, D. L.; Weinstock, G. M. (January 2001). "Biology of Treponema pallidum: correlation of functional activities with genome sequence data". Journal of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology. 3 (1): 37–62. ISSN1464-1801. PMID11200228.
↑Treponema in LPSN; Freese, H. M.; Meier-Kolthoff, J. P.; Sardà Carbasse, J.; Afolayan, A. O.; Göker, M. (2026). "TYGS and LPSN in 2025: a Global Core Biodata Resource for genome-based classification and nomenclature of prokaryotes within DSMZ Digital Diversity". Nucleic Acids Research. 54 (D1): D884–D891. doi:10.1093/nar/gkaf1110.
