title: Tracing the origin of Treponema pallidum in China using next-generation sequencing.
abstract: Syphilis is a systemic sexually transmitted disease caused by Treponema pallidum ssp. pallidum (TPA). The origin and genetic background of Chinese TPA strains remain unclear. We identified a total of 329 single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) in eight Chinese TPA strains using next-generation sequencing. All of the TPA strains were clustered into three lineages, and Chinese TPA strains were grouped in Lineage 2 based on phylogenetic analysis. The phylogeographical data showed that TPA strains originated earlier than did T. pallidum ssp. pertenue (TPE) and T. pallidum ssp. endemicum (TPN) strains and that Chinese TPA strains might be derived from recombination between Lineage 1 and Lineage 3. Moreover, we found through a homology modeling analysis that a nonsynonymous substitution (I415F) in the PBP3 protein might affect the structural flexibility of PBP3 and the binding constant for substrates based on its possible association with penicillin resistance in T. pallidum. Our findings provide new insight into the molecular foundation of the evolutionary origin of TPA and support the development of novel diagnostic/therapeutic technology for syphilis.
authors.affiliation: STD Institute, Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Oncology Bioinformatics Center, Minhang Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Zhefeng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: School of Laboratory Medicine, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Kaiqi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: School of Laboratory Medicine, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Biao
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, Clinical School of Anhui Medical University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Sufang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, Clinical School of Anhui Medical University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yudan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Shanghai-MOST Key Laboratory for Disease and Health Genomics, Chinese National Human Genome Center and National Engineering Center for Biochip at Shanghai, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yuezhu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai-MOST Key Laboratory for Disease and Health Genomics, Chinese National Human Genome Center and National Engineering Center for Biochip at Shanghai, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Huajun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Shanghai-MOST Key Laboratory for Disease and Health Genomics, Chinese National Human Genome Center and National Engineering Center for Biochip at Shanghai, Shanghai, China.|Key Laboratory of Systems Biomedicine (Ministry of Education) and Collaborative Innovation Center of Systems Biomedicine, Shanghai Center for Systems Biomedicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: STD Institute, Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, Shanghai, China.|Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, Clinical School of Anhui Medical University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Pingyu
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000483:Alleles; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D002681:China; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005260:Female; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010802:Phylogeny; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D013045:Species Specificity; D013587:Syphilis / Q000382:microbiology; D014210:Treponema pallidum / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins
keywords: NGS; Pathology Section; SNVs; Treponema pallidum; evolution; syphilis