Treponema pallidum QC Overview

Treponema pallidum is a Gram-negative, spirochete bacterium of the family Treponemataceae, obligately parasitic and not cultivable on artificial media. Subspecies pallidum is the causative agent of syphilis, a sexually transmitted infection with multistage clinical manifestations that remains a major global public health concern. Genomically, T. pallidum has a highly reduced genome (~1.14 Mb) with minimal metabolic capacity, extensive reliance on host-derived nutrients, and remarkably low genetic diversity, though recombination at the tprK locus enables antigenic variation and immune evasion.