Talk:Treponema pallidum

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 27 August 2019 and 11 December 2019. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Mcwold, Landon Gonzalez, Hrsherrerd.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 11:42, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

metabolically crippled

 * What does "metabolically crippled" mean? Anthony Appleyard 07:27, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

gram negative
I noticed a reverted change about Gram negative staining. These bacteriae are Gram negative- also they are visible under the light microscope. Please check sources. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.41.89.52 (talk) 13:29, 22 January 2012 (UTC)

Flat and wavy?
It clearly looks helical in that electron micrograph, and yet the material is sourced. Is Borellia even more obviously helical? 96.238.211.171 (talk) 14:59, 23 September 2012 (UTC)

Flat and wavey is very wrong as a description of the 3-dimensional form of the organism, but it might well describe its appearance in the light microscope (see below)

This reference, which refers to dark-field light microscopy contains these passages (pp12, 13):- https://www.cdc.gov/std/syphilis/manual-1998/chapt5.pdf

1.	 Characteristics of T. pallidum a.	 Morphology (1)	 Shape: A delicate, corkscrew-shaped organism with rigid, uniform, tightly wound, deep spirals. Note: Coil appearance is maintained despite active motility of the organism. (2)	 Length: 6-20 micrometers (µm), with an average length of 10 µm. The average organism is slightly longer than the diameter of a blood cell (8 µm). (3)	 Width: Approximately 0.13-0.15 µm; very thin. (4)	 Spiral wave length: Approximately 1.0-1.5 µm. (5)	 Spiral depth: Approximately 0.5-0.7 µm. b. Motility (1)	 Translation (uniform movement in a straight line): Slow, may exhibit deliberate forward and backward movements, with occasional erratic movement. (2)	 Rotation: Slow-to-rapid rotation about the longitudinal axis (like a corkscrew); may rotate without changing place. (3)	 Flexion: Rotation is accompanied by soft bending, twisting or undulation from side to side, giving a shimmering, graceful effect. Bending of the organism usually occurs in the middle and is stiffly executed, like the bending of a coil spring, which comes back into place when released. (4)	 Distortion: May occur as a ring, with ends seemingly attached, or in more tortuous convolutions. When attached to or obstructed by heavier objects, vigorous struggling distorts coils.

In summary, T. pallidum is a thin, tightly wound, spiral organism capable of extreme contortions from which it snaps back to its original form in a coiled spring-like manner. It may spin rapidly without translation, move slowly forward and backward without obvious change in direction of rotation or pitch of coils, or the organism may more slowly thread its way corkscrew-fashion in viscous material. A spring-like rigidity is constant and T. pallidum does not move rapidly from place to place with a serpentine motion. Any coarsely wound spiral organism exhibiting great flexion and rapid movement from place to place IS NOT T. pallidum.

SEM images on the web seem to show both left-hand and right hand helices, but there are more of the latter than the former. This image shows both types in one field:-

http://c8.alamy.com/comp/F3N53M/treponema-pallidum-syphilis-bacterium-F3N53M.jpg

Light microscopy:- https://fineartamerica.com/featured/treponema-pallidum-bacteria-pasieka.html

— Preceding unsigned comment added by G4oep (talk • contribs) 12:20, 8 March 2018 (UTC)

Needed citation
Added citation to the sub-section Vaccine to back up the statement of " humoral and cellular mechanisms to protective immunity...". Nbuend (talk) 04:13, 18 April 2017 (UTC)

Limited Metabolic.
If it is a limited metabolic, with only known host human, then it is a subset of an internal human existing chrome.

IE> Human, naturally occuring internal fauna or flora within a human host/body. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 200.44.92.216 (talk) 17:05, 3 May 2017 (UTC)

Media
What medium is used for Treponema? Artificial? --2A01:112F:742:C00:129:9EAB:F059:D30 (talk) 10:16, 29 January 2019 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: MIBO 3500 Introduction to Microbiology
— Assignment last updated by Bmore77 (talk) 13:43, 5 October 2023 (UTC)