Spirochete Diseases
Spirochete Diseases - Related Videos
03:25
Cultivation of Pathogenic Spirochetes to Investigate Skin Infection
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2026
Source: Berthold, A., et al. Cultivation Methods of Spirochetes from Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato Complex and Relapsing Fever Borrelia. J. Vis. Exp.(2022)This video demonstrates the cultivation of pathogenic spirochetes from infected skin tissue to model dermal infection. It highlights their localization in the dermis, interaction with the extracellular matrix, and survival during selective culture conditions.
02:28
Bacteriophage-Mediated Gene Delivery in Spirochete Bacteria
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2026
Source: Eggers, C. H. Phage-Mediated Genetic Manipulation of the Lyme Disease Spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. J. Vis. Exp. (2022).This video demonstrates the transduction of genetically modified Borrelia spirochetes using polyethylene glycol–precipitated, non-infectious bacteriophages carrying a kanamycin-resistance plasmid. After incubation with the bacteria, the culture is plated on antibiotic-supplemented medium. Only cells that receive the plasmid survive and form colonies. These colonies...
09:01
Phage-Mediated Genetic Manipulation of the Lyme Disease Spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi
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Cited by 2 •
2022
The ability of bacteriophage to move DNA between bacterial cells makes them effective tools for the genetic manipulation of their bacterial hosts. Presented here is a methodology for inducing, recovering, and using φBB-1, a bacteriophage of Borrelia burgdorferi, to transduce heterologous DNA between different strains of the Lyme disease spirochete.
07:20
Detecting the Lyme Disease Spirochete, Borrelia Burgdorferi, in Ticks Using Nested PCR
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Cited by 21 •
2018
Nested PCR is a sensitive, specific, and straightforward technique that can be applied to tick DNA extracts to probe for Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease. The initial PCR experiment uses gene-specific primers to generate long amplicons, which then become templates for a subsequent reaction using internal primers.
09:45
Procedures for In Vitro Cultivation of Treponema pallidum, the Syphilis Spirochete
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Cited by 1 •
2025
This protocol describes in vitro cultivation of the syphilis pathogen Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum in co-culture with mammalian cells. The method is scalable; it can be used to produce large quantities of T. pallidum and to generate clonal cultures.
FAQs
Endoflagella are internal axial filaments that rotate within the helical cell, producing propulsion rather than relying on external flagella. This movement is especially important in viscous environments, where flexible rotation can help the bacteria travel through tissues. Understanding this motility mechanism clarifies how physical structure contributes to invasion and infection.
Surface molecules contribute to the interaction between spirochetes and host tissues and can help the bacteria evade host defenses. These functions support attachment, persistence, and tissue invasion after transmission. Studying such molecules is therefore relevant to explaining why infections can involve different organs and to identifying targets for vaccines or other interventions.
The major diseases differ in how they are transmitted, which tissues or organs they affect, and how infection develops in the host. Lyme disease, syphilis, leptospirosis, and relapsing fever therefore represent distinct disease processes despite sharing a bacterial group. Comparing them helps biology connect pathogen traits with symptoms, transmission routes, and organ involvement.
Tissue invasion links bacterial motility and surface-associated interactions with the spread of infection through the host. Flexible movement can support travel through viscous surroundings, while invasion mechanisms help the organisms establish themselves beyond the initial exposure site. This relationship is important when investigating disease progression and explaining variation in affected organs.
Research on these infections can identify biological features and disease patterns that improve diagnostic development. Because the diseases differ in transmission, symptoms, and organ involvement, diagnostic approaches must account for more than the shared bacterial shape or motility. Better detection supports earlier recognition and more appropriate investigation of suspected infection.
Antibiotic treatment is a major research and clinical focus, while vaccine research seeks preventive approaches that address infection before disease develops. Public-health strategies complement both by targeting transmission through vector-borne, sexually transmitted, or environmentally acquired routes. Together, these approaches connect biological research with infection control and disease prevention.
They provide a broad model for studying how bacterial structure, motility, surface molecules, tissue invasion, and host-defense evasion contribute to disease. Their range of transmission patterns and organ effects also connects microbiology with medicine and public health. Findings can inform diagnostics, antibiotic use, vaccine development, and strategies for controlling infection.