Difference Between Treponema Borrelia and Leptospira

Thekey differencebetween treponema borrelia and leptospira is thatTreponemacausessyphilisandBorreliacausesLyme diseaseand relapsing fever, whileLeptospiracauses leptospirosis.

Spirochetes are large spiral-shaped motile bacteria. They belong to order Spirochaetales. There are two families of this order as Spirochaetaceae and Leptospiraceae.BorreliaandTreponemaare two genera belonging to family spirochaetaceae. GenusLeptospirabelongs to family leptospiraceae. All three genera,Treponema,BorreliaandLeptospira,arepathogenicto humans.

CONTENTS

1.Overview and Key Difference
2.What is Treponema
3.What is Borrelia
4.What is Leptospira
5.Similarities Between Treponema Borrelia and Leptospira
6.Side by Side Comparison – Treponema vs Borrelia vs Leptospira in Tabular Form
7.Summary

What is Treponema?

Treponema is a genus of spirochaetes. They are slender spirals which are regularly spaced. These bacteria are highly active and rotate steadily around their endoflagella. SomeTreponemaspecies are human pathogens, but there are non-pathogenicTreponemaspecies as well.

Non-pathogenic treponemes may be part of the normal flora of the intestinal tract, the oral cavity, or the genital tract. Pathogenic species Treponema pallidum causes syphilis or congenital infections worldwide. Transmission takes place solely via sexual contact. Bejel (endemic syphilis) and yaws are two other treponematoses.

What is Borrelia?

Borreliais a genus of spirochaetes. They are larger than other spirochaetes. They are irregular wide coils. Moreover, they are motile, gram-negative bacteria which are commensal in mouth and genitals. They have internalflagella.

B. recurrentis,B. vicentti, andB. burgdoferiare three medically importantBorreliaspecies.B. recurrentiscauses relapsing fever.B. vicentticauses Vincent’s angina while B. burgdoferi causes Lyme disease.Borreliaspecies are transmitted by tick or louse bites.

What is Leptospira?

Leprospirais a genus that belongs to family leptospiraceae. These bacteria are closely wound coils that are actively motile. They have internal flagella. They also have characteristic hooked ends. SomeLeptospiraspecies are human pathogens while some are non-pathogenic.

Non-pathogenic species are saprophytes. Leptospirosis is a disease caused byLeptospira.Leptospiraenters the host through the mucosa and broken skin. Human infection occurs through the contact of urine of infected animals. However, human to human transmission ofLeptospirais very rare.

What are the Similarities Between Treponema Borrelia and Leptospira?

• Leptospira, Treponema, and Borrelia are three genera of the order Spirochaetales.
• They are motile, unicellular, spiral-shaped organisms.
• Moreover, they are gram-negative bacteria.
• They all are pathogenic to man.
• They have internal flagella.

What is the Difference Between Treponema Borrelia and Leptospira?

Treponemais a genus of spirochaetes that causes syphilis whileBorreliais a genus of spirochaetes that cause Lyme disease and relapsing fever andLeptospirais a genus of spirochaetes that causes leptospirosis. So, this is the key difference between treponema borrelia and leptospira.TreponemaandBorreliabelong to family spirochaetaceae whileLeptospirabelongs to family leptospiraceae. Moreover,TreponemaandBorreliaare not hooked whileLeptospirais hooked.

The below infographic shows more details of the difference between treponema borrelia and leptospira.

Summary – Treponema Borrelia vs Leptospira

Trepenoma,BorreliaandLeptospiraare three genera of spirochaetes that are pathogenic to humans. They are gram-negative motile bacteria. All are spiral-shaped bacteria.Treponemacauses syphilis, whileBorreliacauses lyme disease and relapsing fever andLeptospiracauses leptospirosis.TreponemaandBorreliabelong to family spirochaetaceae whileLeptospirabelongs to family leptospiraceae. Moreover,TreponemaandBorreliaare not hooked whileLeptospirais hooked. Thus, this summarizes the difference between treponema borrelia and leptospira.

Reference:

1. Johnson, Russell. “Leptospira”. Ncbi.Nlm.Nih.Gov, 2020,Available here.
2. Radolf, Justin. “Treponema”. Ncbi.Nlm.Nih.Gov, 2020,Available here.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Treponema pallidum 01” By CDC – CDC (Public Domain) viaCommons Wikimedia
2. “Borrelia burgdorferi (CDC-PHIL -6631) lores” By CDC – from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Public Health Image Library (PHIL) (Public Domain) viaCommons Wikimedia
3.“钩端螺旋体interrogans应变RGA 01”获取ned from the CDC Public Health Image Library.Image credit: CDC/NCID/HIP/Janice Carr (PHIL #1220). – (Public Domain) viaCommons Wikimedia