Longitudinal Variations in the tprK Gene of Treponema pallidum in an Amoy Strain-Infected Rabbit Model.

ABSTRACT: Heterogeneous tprK sequences have been hypothesized to be an important factor for persistent infection of Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum (T. pallidum) in humans. Previous research has only explored tprK diversity using a rabbit model infected with almost clonal isolates, which is inconsistent with the fact that infected human isolates contain multiple heterogeneous tprK sequences. Here, we used the T. pallidum Amoy strain with heterogeneous tprK sequences to establish a rabbit infection model and explore longitudinal variations in the tprK gene under normal infection, immunosuppression treatment, and benzathine penicillin G (BPG) treatment using next-generation sequencing. The diversity of the tprK gene was high in all three groups but w

SUBMITTER: Liu D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10433980 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature