The hare syphilis agent is related to, but distinct from, the treponeme causing rabbit syphilis

PLoS One. 2024 Aug 12;19(8):e0307196. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0307196. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

The treponemes infecting lagomorphs include Treponema paraluisleporidarum ecovar Cuniculus (TPeC) and ecovar Lepus (TPeL), infecting rabbits and hares, respectively. In this study, we described the first complete genome sequence of TPeL, isolate V3603-13, from an infected mountain hare (Lepus timidus) in Sweden. In addition, we determined 99.0% of the genome sequence of isolate V246-08 (also from an infected mountain hare, Sweden) and 31.7% of the genome sequence of isolate Z27 A77/78 (from a European hare, Lepus europeaus, The Netherlands). The TPeL V3603-13 genome had considerable gene synteny with the TPeC Cuniculi A genome and with the human pathogen T. pallidum, which causes syphilis (ssp. pallidum, TPA), yaws (ssp. pertenue, TPE) and endemic syphilis (ssp. endemicum, TEN). Compared to the TPeC Cuniculi A genome, TPeL V3603-13 contained four insertions and 11 deletions longer than three nucleotides (ranging between 6 and2,932 nts). In addition, there were 25 additional indels, from one to three nucleotides long, altogether spanning 36 nts. The number of single nucleotide variants (SNVs) between TPeC Cuniculi A and TPeL V3603-13 were represented by 309 nucleotide differences. Major proteome coding differences between TPeL and TPeC were found in the tpr gene family, and (predicted) genes coding for outer membrane proteins, suggesting that these components are essential for host adaptation in lagomorph syphilis. The phylogeny revealed that the TPeL sample from the European brown hare was more distantly related to TPeC Cuniculi A than V3603-13 and V246-08.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Genome, Bacterial
  • Hares* / microbiology
  • Phylogeny*
  • Rabbits
  • Syphilis* / microbiology
  • Treponema* / genetics
  • Treponema* / isolation & purification

Grants and funding

This work was partially financed by funds from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) to SK [Ref. no. KN1097/7-1] and by funds from the National Institute of Virology and Bacteriology project [Programme EXCELES, ID Project No. LX22NPO5103] funded by the European Union - Next Generation EU to DS. Support in obtaining the NGS data was partially supported by the NCMG research infrastructure [LM2015091 funded by MEYS CR] to Core Facility Genomics CEITECH MU. Computational resources were supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports of the Czech Republic [e-INFRA CZ project ID:90140]. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.