Treponema succinifaciens explained

Treponema succinifaciens is an anaerobic spirochete bacterium first discovered in the intestines of swine in 1981.^[1] The helical cells of T. succinifaciens grow to 16 μm in length and often form chains of cells when cultured.^[2] T. succinifaciens is gram-negative and non spore-forming.

In humans

Treponema succinifaciens is found in the gut microbiome of some human populations, but is rarely found in humans living in urban areas. The bacterium has been found in many rural and traditional human populations such as foragers from the Congo, Bedouins, Amazonians, and Tuaregs.^[3] Angelakis et al found no occurrences in the urban populations they studied. However, a 2022 study found individuals in Johannesburg, South Africa with T. succinifaciens.^[4] The rare occurrence in urban populations is likely due to increased antibiotic use in urban populations, as well as cross-contamination from animals in rural and traditional populations.

Genome

The genome of T. succinifaciens is 2,897,425 base pairs in length. The bacterium contains 2,723 protein-coding as well as 63 RNA genes. It also contains 63 genes that are involved in motility.

Notes and References

1. Cwyk WM, Canale-Parola E . Treponema succinifaciens sp. nov., an anaerobic spirochete from the swine intestine . Archives of Microbiology . 122 . 3 . 231–9 . September 1979 . 120726 . 10.1007/bf00411285 .
2. Han C, Gronow S, Teshima H, Lapidus A, Nolan M, Lucas S, Hammon N, Deshpande S, Cheng JF, Zeytun A, Tapia R, Goodwin L, Pitluck S, Liolios K, Pagani I, Ivanova N, Mavromatis K, Mikhailova N, Huntemann M, Pati A, Chen A, Palaniappan K, Land M, Hauser L, Brambilla EM, Rohde M, Göker M, Woyke T, Bristow J, Eisen JA, Markowitz V, Hugenholtz P, Kyrpides NC, Klenk HP, Detter JC . 6 . Complete genome sequence of Treponema succinifaciens type strain (6091) . Standards in Genomic Sciences . 4 . 3 . 361–70 . July 2011 . 21886863 . 3156407 . 10.4056/sigs.1984594 .
3. Angelakis E, Bachar D, Yasir M, Musso D, Djossou F, Gaborit B, Brah S, Diallo A, Ndombe GM, Mediannikov O, Robert C, Azhar EI, Bibi F, Nsana NS, Parra HJ, Akiana J, Sokhna C, Davoust B, Dutour A, Raoult D . 6 . Treponema species enrich the gut microbiota of traditional rural populations but are absent from urban individuals . New Microbes and New Infections . 27 . 14–21 . January 2019 . 30555706 . 6276622 . 10.1016/j.nmni.2018.10.009 .
4. Tamburini FB, Maghini D, Oduaran OH et al. . Short- and long-read metagenomics of urban and rural South African gut microbiomes reveal a transitional composition and undescribed taxa . Nature Communications . 13 . 926 . 2022 . 10.1038/s41467-021-27917-x. free . 8863827 .