↑ arvau

Wikipedia / Spirochaete

A spirochaete () or spirochete is a member of the phylum Spirochaetota (also called Spirochaetes ), which contains distinctive diderm (double-membrane) Gram-negative bacteria, most of which have long, helically coiled (corkscrew-shaped or spiraled, hence the name) cells. Spirochaetes are chemoheterotrophic in nature, with lengths between 3 and 500μm and diameters around 0.09 to at least 3μm.

Spirochaetes are distinguished from other bacterial phyla by the location of their flagella, called endoflagella, or periplasmic flagella, which are sometimes called axial filaments. Endoflagella are anchored at each end (pole) of the bacterium within the periplasmic space (between the inner and outer membranes) where they project backwards to extend the length of the cell. These cause a twisting motion which allows the spirochaete to move. When reproducing, a spirochaete will undergo asexual transverse binary fission. Most spirochaetes are free-living and anaerobic, but there are numerous exceptions. Spirochaete bacteria are diverse in their pathogenic capacity and the ecological niches that they inhabit, as well as molecular characteristics including guanine-cytosine content and genome size.

Pathogenicity

Many organisms within the Spirochaetota phylum cause prevalent diseases. Pathogenic members of this phylum include the following:

Salvarsan, the first partially organic synthetic antimicrobial drug in medical history, was effective against spirochaetes and primarily used to cure syphilis. Additionally, oral spirochaetes are known to play a significant role in the pathogenesis of human periodontal disease.

Taxonomy and molecular signatures

The class currently consists of 14 validly named genera across four orders and five families. The orders Brachyspirales, Brevinematales and Leptospirales each contain a single family, Brachyspiraceae, Brevinemataceae and Leptospiraceae, respectively. The Spirochaetales order harbours two families, Spirochaetaceae and Borreliaceae. Molecular markers in the form of conserved signature indels (CSIs) and CSPs have been found specific for each of the orders, with the exception of Brevinimetales, that provide a reliable means to demarcate these clades from one another within the diverse phylum. Additional CSIs have been found exclusively shared by each family within the Spirochaetales. These molecular markers are in agreement with the observed phylogenetic tree branching of two monophyletic clades within the Spirochaetales order. CSIs have also been found that further differentiate taxonomic groups within the Borreliaceae family that further delineate evolutionary relationships that are in accordance with physical characteristics such as pathogenicity (viz. Borrelia emend. Borreliella gen. nov.). However, this study has been criticized, and other studies using different approaches do not support the proposed split. The new naming system for the Lyme and relapsing fever Borrelia has not been adopted by the scientific literature.

A CSI has also been found exclusively shared by all Spirochaetota species. This CSI is a three-amino-acid insert in the flagellar basal body rod protein FlgC which is an important part of the unique endoflagellar structure shared by Spirochaetota species. Given that the CSI is exclusively shared by members within this phylum, it has been postulated that it may be related to the characteristic flagellar properties observed among Spirochaetota species.

Historically, all families belonging to the Spirochaetota phylum were assigned to a single order, the Spirochaetales. However, the current taxonomic view is more connotative of accurate evolutionary relationships. The distribution of a CSI is indicative of shared ancestry within the clade for which it is specific. It thus functions as a synapomorphic characteristic, so that the distributions of different CSIs provide the means to identify different orders and families within the phylum and so justify the phylogenetic divisions.

Phylogeny

Taxonomy

The currently accepted taxonomy is based on the List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature (LPSN) and National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).

Phylum Spirochaetota Garrity and Holt 2021

Class Leptospiria Chuvochina et al. 2024

Order Turneriellales Chuvochina et al. 2024

Family Turneriellaceae Chuvochina et al. 2024

Order Leptospirales Gupta et al. 2014

Family Leptonemataceae Chuvochina et al. 2024

Family Leptospiraceae Hovind-Hougen 1979

Class Brevinematia Chuvochina et al. 2024

Order Brevinematales Gupta et al. 2014

Family "Longinemataceae" Karnachuk et al. 2021

  • Genus ?"Longinema" corrig. Karnachuk et al. 2021

Family Brevinemataceae Paster 2012

Family Thermospiraceae Ben Ali Gam et al. 2023

Class Brachyspiria Chuvochina et al. 2024

Order Brachyspirales corrig. Gupta et al. 2014

Family Brachyspiraceae Paster 2012

Class Spirochaetia Paster 2020

Order Spirochaetales Buchanan 1917

Family "Pillotinaceae" Margulis & Hinkle 1992

  • Genus ?Pillotina Hollande and Gharagozlou 1967 ex Bermudes et al. 1988

Family Spirochaetaceae Swellengrebel 1907 ["Thiospirochaetaceae" Pallen, Rodriguez-R & Alikhan 2022]

  • Genus ?"Ca. Allospironema" Paster & Dewhirst 2000

  • Genus ?"Canaleparolina" Wier, Ashen & Margulis 2000

  • Genus ?Clevelandina Bermudes et al. 1988

  • Genus ?Diplocalyx Gharagozlou 1968 ex Bermudes et al. 1988 non Richard 1850 non Presl 1845

  • Genus ?Hollandina To et al. 1978 ex Bermudes et al. 1988 non Haynes 1956

  • Genus ?"Mobilifilum" Margulis et al. 1990

  • Genus ?Rarispira Podosokorskaya et al. 2025

  • Genus ?"Spirophis" (Warming 1875) Lauterborn 1916

  • Genus ?Spirochaeta Ehrenberg 1835 em. Pikuta et al. 2009 non Turczaninow 1851

  • Genus "Ca. Haliotispira" Sharma et al. 2024

Order "Exilispirales" Pallen, Rodriguez-R & Alikhan 2022

Family "Exilispiraceae" Pallen, Rodriguez-R & Alikhan 2022

Order Borreliales Chuvochina et al. 2024

Family Borreliaceae Gupta et al. 2014

  • Genus Borrelia Swellengrebel 1907 (relapsing fever Borrelia, reptile-associated Borrelia and Echidna-associated Borrelia)

  • Genus Borreliella Adeolu & Gupta 2015 (Lyme disease Borrelia)

  • Genus ?Cristispira Gross 1910

Order "Entomospirales" Pallen, Rodriguez-R & Alikhan 2022 [WRBN01]

Family "Entomospiraceae" Pallen, Rodriguez-R & Alikhan 2022

  • Genus Entomospira Grana-Miraglia et al. 2024 non Enderlein 1917

Order "Salinispirales" Pallen, Rodriguez-R & Alikhan 2022 [DSM-27196]

Family "Thiospirochaetaceae" Pallen, Rodriguez-R & Alikhan 2022 [DSM-19205]

Family Alkalispirochaetceae Chuvochina et al. 2024

Family Salinispiraceae Chuvochina et al. 2024

Order Winmispirales Podosokorskaya et al. 2025 [DSM-6578]

Family Winmispiraceae Podosokorskaya et al. 2025

Order "Sediminispirochaetales" Pallen, Rodriguez-R & Alikhan 2022

Family Sediminispirochaetaceae Chuvochina et al. 2024

Order "Marispirochaetales" Pallen, Rodriguez-R & Alikhan 2022

Family Marispirochaetaceae Chuvochina et al. 2024

Order Sphaerochaetales Chuvochina et al. 2024

Family Sphaerochaetaceae Hördt et al. 2020

Order Treponematales Chuvochina et al. 2024

Family Rectinemataceae Brune et al. 2022

Family Breznakiellaceae Brune et al. 2022

Family Treponemataceae Robinson 1948

See also

References