A new highly discriminatory typing scheme for Treponema
pallidum reveals similar levels of genetic variability across
lineages

J 2026

A new highly discriminatory typing scheme for Treponema pallidum reveals similar levels of genetic variability across lineages

PLA-DÍAZ, Marta; Lorenzo GIACANI; Lauren C TANTALO; Mahashweta BOSE; Tara B REID et al.

Základní údaje

Originální název

A new highly discriminatory typing scheme for Treponema pallidum reveals similar levels of genetic variability across lineages

Autoři

Vydání

MBIO, WASHINGTON, AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY, 2026, 2150-7511

Další údaje

Jazyk

angličtina

Typ výsledku

Článek v odborném periodiku

Stát vydavatele

Spojené státy

Utajení

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

Odkazy

URL

Impakt faktor

Impact factor: 4.700 v roce 2024

Označené pro přenos do RIV

Organizační jednotka

Lékařská fakulta

Klíčová slova anglicky

MLST; Treponema pallidum; syphilis; yaws; bejel; molecular epidemiology; population structure; genetic diversity

Štítky

14110513

Příznaky

Mezinárodní význam, Recenzováno

Změněno: 5. 5. 2026 12:19, Mgr. Tereza Miškechová

Anotace

V originále

The global resurgence of treponematoses, particularly syphilis, poses a growing public health challenge. Despite advances in sequencing technologies, obtaining complete Treponema pallidum genome sequences for epidemiological studies remains challenging due to clinical sampling and methodological constraints. There is, therefore, a need for rapid, cost-effective, and accessible typing methods. Based on the analysis of 121 T. pallidum genomes spanning all three subspecies (TPA, TPE, and TEN) from diverse regions, we selected seven highly variable genes (tp0136, tp0326, tp0548, tp0705, tp0858, tp0865, and tp1031) to form a new typing system, combined with analysis of macrolide resistance mutations in the 23S rRNA gene. The scheme was validated on 542 global T. pallidum samples, using either Sanger reads or whole genome sequence data, obtaining 82 sequence types (STs) among the 415 fully typed samples. Macrolide resistance mutations were frequently detected, highlighting the need for ongoing epidemiological surveillance. Phylogenetic analyses based on concatenated multilocus typing (MLST) loci recovered the expected subspecies and lineage structure. Consistently, almost all sequence types formed monophyletic groups, indicating strong concordance between MLST-based classification and whole-genome phylogenies. In addition, population genetic analyses revealed comparable levels of within-lineage diversity across subspecies and lineages, despite pronounced differences in geographic distribution, and identified distinct regional genetic clusters consistent with localized transmission dynamics. Importantly, the scheme employs a single-step PCR for all seven targets, facilitating implementation in standard laboratories and is publicly accessible through PubMLST. Overall, our novel MLST scheme offers a rapid, cost-effective tool to advance molecular epidemiology of T. pallidum, facilitate transmission and resistance tracking, and support global surveillance to strengthen public health interventions for syphilis and endemic treponematoses control.IMPORTANCEWe have developed a new multilocus typing (MLST) scheme useful for all Treponema pallidum lineages after the analysis of 121 complete genome sequences of this species. The new scheme can be used directly with uncultured clinical samples, thus providing an excellent contribution to the molecular surveillance of syphilis and other treponematoses. The application of this MLST scheme to over 500 samples from all lineages and main geographical regions has revealed similar levels of genetic variation within them. Furthermore, the analyses show a complex pattern of spread, with global and local contributions to the observed distribution of genetic variation in the syphilis-producing sublineages. The new scheme represents a significant improvement over previous proposals and also reveals unsuspected levels of variability in T. pallidum lineages.

Návaznosti

LX22NPO5103, projekt VaV

Název: Národní institut virologie a bakteriologie (Akronym: NIVB)

Investor: Ministerstvo školství, mládeže a tělovýchovy ČR, Národní institut virologie a bakteriologie, 5.1 EXCELES

Citovat

PLA-DÍAZ, Marta; Lorenzo GIACANI; Lauren C TANTALO; Mahashweta BOSE; Tara B REID; Christina M MARRA; David ŠMAJS; Petra POSPÍŠILOVÁ; Klára JANEČKOVÁ; Takuya KAWAHATA; Fumiya BANNO; Kendra VILFORT; Weiping CAO; Allan PILLAY; Angel NODA; Philipp P BOSSHARD; Marcus CHEN; Oriol MITJÀ; Verena J SCHUENEMANN; Simon HACKL; Kay NIESELT; Pablo HERNÁNDEZ-BEL; M Dolores OCETE; Natasha ARORA a Fernando GONZÁLEZ-CANDELAS. A new highly discriminatory typing scheme for Treponema pallidum reveals similar levels of genetic variability across lineages. MBIO. WASHINGTON: AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY, 2026, 17 s. ISSN 2150-7511. Dostupné z: https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.00358-26.

@article{2570597,
   author = {PlaandDíaz, Marta and Giacani, Lorenzo and Tantalo, Lauren C and Bose, Mahashweta and Reid, Tara B and Marra, Christina M and Šmajs, David and Pospíšilová, Petra and Janečková, Klára and Kawahata, Takuya and Banno, Fumiya and Vilfort, Kendra and Cao, Weiping and Pillay, Allan and Noda, Angel and Bosshard, Philipp P and Chen, Marcus and Mitjà, Oriol and Schuenemann, Verena J and Hackl, Simon and Nieselt, Kay and HernándezandBel, Pablo and Ocete, M Dolores and Arora, Natasha and GonzálezandCandelas, Fernando},
   article_location = {WASHINGTON},
   doi = {https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.00358-26},
   keywords = {MLST; Treponema pallidum; syphilis; yaws; bejel; molecular epidemiology; population structure; genetic diversity},
   language = {eng},
   issn = {2150-7511},
   journal = {MBIO},
   title = {A new highly discriminatory typing scheme for Treponema pallidum reveals similar levels of genetic variability across lineages},
   url = {https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mbio.00358-26},
   year = {2026}
}

TY  - JOUR
ID  - 2570597
AU  - Pla-Díaz, Marta - Giacani, Lorenzo - Tantalo, Lauren C - Bose, Mahashweta - Reid, Tara B - Marra, Christina M - Šmajs, David - Pospíšilová, Petra - Janečková, Klára - Kawahata, Takuya - Banno, Fumiya - Vilfort, Kendra - Cao, Weiping - Pillay, Allan - Noda, Angel - Bosshard, Philipp P - Chen, Marcus - Mitjà, Oriol - Schuenemann, Verena J - Hackl, Simon - Nieselt, Kay - Hernández-Bel, Pablo - Ocete, M Dolores - Arora, Natasha - González-Candelas, Fernando
PY  - 2026
TI  - A new highly discriminatory typing scheme for Treponema pallidum reveals similar levels of genetic variability across lineages
JF  - MBIO
PB  - AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY
SN  - 21507511
KW  - MLST
KW  - Treponema pallidum
KW  - syphilis
KW  - yaws
KW  - bejel
KW  - molecular epidemiology
KW  - population structure
KW  - genetic diversity
UR  - https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mbio.00358-26
N2  - The global resurgence of treponematoses, particularly syphilis, poses a growing public health challenge. Despite advances in sequencing technologies, obtaining complete Treponema pallidum genome sequences for epidemiological studies remains challenging due to clinical sampling and methodological constraints. There is, therefore, a need for rapid, cost-effective, and accessible typing methods. Based on the analysis of 121 T. pallidum genomes spanning all three subspecies (TPA, TPE, and TEN) from diverse regions, we selected seven highly variable genes (tp0136, tp0326, tp0548, tp0705, tp0858, tp0865, and tp1031) to form a new typing system, combined with analysis of macrolide resistance mutations in the 23S rRNA gene. The scheme was validated on 542 global T. pallidum samples, using either Sanger reads or whole genome sequence data, obtaining 82 sequence types (STs) among the 415 fully typed samples. Macrolide resistance mutations were frequently detected, highlighting the need for ongoing epidemiological surveillance. Phylogenetic analyses based on concatenated multilocus typing (MLST) loci recovered the expected subspecies and lineage structure. Consistently, almost all sequence types formed monophyletic groups, indicating strong concordance between MLST-based classification and whole-genome phylogenies. In addition, population genetic analyses revealed comparable levels of within-lineage diversity across subspecies and lineages, despite pronounced differences in geographic distribution, and identified distinct regional genetic clusters consistent with localized transmission dynamics. Importantly, the scheme employs a single-step PCR for all seven targets, facilitating implementation in standard laboratories and is publicly accessible through PubMLST. Overall, our novel MLST scheme offers a rapid, cost-effective tool to advance molecular epidemiology of T. pallidum, facilitate transmission and resistance tracking, and support global surveillance to strengthen public health interventions for syphilis and endemic treponematoses control.IMPORTANCEWe have developed a new multilocus typing (MLST) scheme useful for all Treponema pallidum lineages after the analysis of 121 complete genome sequences of this species. The new scheme can be used directly with uncultured clinical samples, thus providing an excellent contribution to the molecular surveillance of syphilis and other treponematoses. The application of this MLST scheme to over 500 samples from all lineages and main geographical regions has revealed similar levels of genetic variation within them. Furthermore, the analyses show a complex pattern of spread, with global and local contributions to the observed distribution of genetic variation in the syphilis-producing sublineages. The new scheme represents a significant improvement over previous proposals and also reveals unsuspected levels of variability in T. pallidum lineages.
ER  -

PLA-DÍAZ, Marta; Lorenzo GIACANI; Lauren C TANTALO; Mahashweta BOSE; Tara B REID; Christina M MARRA; David ŠMAJS; Petra POSPÍŠILOVÁ; Klára JANEČKOVÁ; Takuya KAWAHATA; Fumiya BANNO; Kendra VILFORT; Weiping CAO; Allan PILLAY; Angel NODA; Philipp P BOSSHARD; Marcus CHEN; Oriol MITJÀ; Verena J SCHUENEMANN; Simon HACKL; Kay NIESELT; Pablo HERNÁNDEZ-BEL; M Dolores OCETE; Natasha ARORA a Fernando GONZÁLEZ-CANDELAS. A new highly discriminatory typing scheme for Treponema pallidum reveals similar levels of genetic variability across lineages. \textit{MBIO}. WASHINGTON: AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY, 2026, 17 s. ISSN~2150-7511. Dostupné z: https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.00358-26.

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