Bright New Resources for Syphilis Research: Genetically Encoded Fluorescent Tags for Treponema pallidum and Sf1Ep...

The recently discovered methodologies to cultivate and genetically manipulate Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum ( T. pallidum ) have significantly helped syphilis research, allowing the in vitro evaluation of antibiotic efficacy, performance of controlled studies to assess differential treponemal gene expression, and generation of loss-of-function mutants to evaluate the contribution of specific genetic loci to T. pallidum virulence. Building on this progress, we engineered the T. pallidum SS14 strain to express a red-shifted Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) and Sf1Ep cells to express mCherry and blue fluorescent protein (BFP) for enhanced visualization. These new resources improve microscopy- and cell sorting-based applications for T. pallidum , better capturing the physical interaction between the host and pathogen, among other possibilities. Continued efforts to develop and share new tools and resources are required to help our overall knowledge of T. pallidum biology and syphilis pathogenesis reach that of other bacterial pathogens, including spirochetes.

By employing genetic engineering, T. pallidum was modified to express GFP, and Sf1Ep cells to express mCherry on the cytoplasmic membrane and BFP in the nucleus. These new resources for syphilis research will facilitate experimental designs to better define the complex interplay between T. pallidum and the host during infection.