title: Human Treponema pallidum 11q/j isolate belongs to subsp. endemicum but contains two loci with a sequence in TP0548 and TP0488 similar to subsp. pertenue and subsp. pallidum, respectively.
abstract: Treponema pallidum subsp. endemicum (TEN) is the causative agent of endemic syphilis (bejel). An unusual human TEN 11q/j isolate was obtained from a syphilis-like primary genital lesion from a patient that returned to France from Pakistan.
  
  
  
  The TEN 11q/j isolate was characterized using nested PCR followed by Sanger sequencing and/or direct Illumina sequencing. Altogether, 44 chromosomal regions were analyzed. Overall, the 11q/j isolate clustered with TEN strains Bosnia A and Iraq B as expected from previous TEN classification of the 11q/j isolate. However, the 11q/j sequence in a 505 bp-long region at the TP0488 locus was similar to Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum (TPA) strains, but not to TEN Bosnia A and Iraq B sequences, suggesting a recombination event at this locus. Similarly, the 11q/j sequence in a 613 bp-long region at the TP0548 locus was similar to Treponema pallidum subsp. pertenue (TPE) strains, but not to TEN sequences.
  
  
  
  A detailed analysis of two recombinant loci found in the 11q/j clinical isolate revealed that the recombination event occurred just once, in the TP0488, with the donor sequence originating from a TPA strain. Since TEN Bosnia A and Iraq B were found to contain TPA-like sequences at the TP0548 locus, the recombination at TP0548 took place in a treponeme that was an ancestor to both TEN Bosnia A and Iraq B. The sequence of 11q/j isolate in TP0548 represents an ancestral TEN sequence that is similar to yaws-causing treponemes. In addition to the importance of the 11q/j isolate for reconstruction of the TEN phylogeny, this case emphasizes the possible role of TEN strains in development of syphilis-like lesions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Lenka
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mikalová
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Strouhal
authors.affiliation: CEITEC-Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.|National Centre for Biomolecular Research, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Oppelt
authors.affiliation: Institut Cochin U1016, Laboratoire de Dermatologie-CNR Syphilis, Faculté de Médecine, Université Sorbonne Paris Descartes, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Philippe Alain
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Grange
authors.affiliation: Centre des MST, Hôpital Saint-Louis, AP-HP, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Janier
authors.affiliation: Institut Cochin U1016, Laboratoire de Dermatologie-CNR Syphilis, Faculté de Médecine, Université Sorbonne Paris Descartes, Paris, France.|Service de Bactériologie, Groupe Hospitalier Paris Centre Cochin-Hôtel Dieu-Broca, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Nadjet
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Benhaddou
authors.affiliation: Institut Cochin U1016, Laboratoire de Dermatologie-CNR Syphilis, Faculté de Médecine, Université Sorbonne Paris Descartes, Paris, France.|Service de Dermatologie-Vénéréologie, Hôpital Cochin-Pavillon Tarnier, AP-HP, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dupin
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Šmajs
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005602:France; D056426:Genetic Loci; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010154:Pakistan; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology; D013587:Syphilis / Q000382:microbiology*; D014195:Travel; D014210:Treponema pallidum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification