Treponema pallidum: doing a remarkable job with what it's got

摘要

Discovered almost a century ago, Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum, the syphiliscausing spirochere, continues to e an enigma. Well into the molecular era, there is still much debate concerning its composition and ultrastructure and the nature of the immune responses it evokes within the mammalian host. The T. pallidum genome was sequenced in the expectation that the resulting treasuretrove of information would provide the tools to resolve these controversies and, more importantly, expedite the search for a safe and effective vaccine, which has long eluded syphilis researchers.