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Updated: Aug 25, 2025

Cultivation Methods of Spirochetes from Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato Complex and Relapsing Fever Borrelia
Published on: November 25, 2022
Diving into the complexity of the spirochetal endoflagellum
Fabiana San Martin1, Lenka Fule2, Gregorio Iraola3
1Laboratory of Molecular and Structural Microbiology, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay; Pasteur International Unit, Integrative Microbiology of Zoonotic Agents, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay/Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
Abstract:
Spirochaetes, a phylum that includes medically important pathogens such as the causative agents of Lyme disease, syphilis, and leptospirosis, are in many ways highly unique bacteria. Their cell morphology, subcellular organization, and metabolism reveal atypical features. Spirochetal motility is also singular, dependent on the presence of periplasmic flagella or endoflagella, inserted subterminally at cell poles and not penetrating the outer membrane and elongating outside the cell as in enterobacteria. In this review we present a comprehensive comparative genomics analysis of endoflagellar systems in spirochetes, highlighting recent findings on the flagellar basal body and filament. Continued progress in understanding the function and architecture of spirochetal flagella is uncovering paradigm-shifting mechanisms of bacterial motility.
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