Evolutionary Processes in the Emergence and Recent Spread of the Syphilis Agent, Treponema pallidum.

ABSTRACT: The incidence of syphilis has risen worldwide in the last decade in spite of being an easily treated infection. The causative agent of this sexually transmitted disease is the bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum (TPA), very closely related to subsp. pertenue (TPE) and endemicum (TEN), responsible for the human treponematoses yaws and bejel, respectively. Although much focus has been placed on the question of the spatial and temporary origins of TPA, the processes driving the evolution and epidemiological spread of TPA since its divergence from TPE and TEN are not well understood. Here, we investigate the effects of recombination and selection as forces of genetic diversity and differentiation acting during the evolution of T. pallidum subspecies. Using a custom-tailored proced

SUBMITTER: Pla-Diaz M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8789261 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature