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"Tropheryma"
Genus of bacteria From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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"Tropheryma whipplei" is a bacterium that is the causative organism of Whipple's disease,[2] and rarely, endocarditis.
While "T. whipplei" is categorized with the Gram-positive Actinomycetota, the organism is commonly found to be Gram-positive or Gram-indeterminate when stained in the laboratory.[2] Whipple himself probably observed the organisms as rod-shaped structures with silver stain in his original case.[4]
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History of the name
No name was given to the organism until 1991, when the name "Tropheryma whippelii" was proposed after sections of the bacterial genome were sequenced.[5][6] The name was changed to "Tropheryma whipplei" in 2001 (correcting the spelling of Whipple's name) when the organism was deposited in bacterial collections.[2]
As of 2008, the species, genus, and family name are considered to be invalid due to irregularities in the deposition of type material, and are thus styled in quotation marks.[7]
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Pathogenesis
Genome structure
Several strains of "T. whipplei" have been sequenced.[8][9]
Genomes of intracellular or parasitic bacteria undergo massive reduction compared to their free-living relatives. With a genome size of less than 1 Mb, "T. whipplei" is a prime example of genome reduction among Actinomycetota. Other such examples include Mycoplasma for Bacillota (the low G+C content Gram-positive), Rickettsia for Alphaproteobacteria, and Wigglesworthia and Buchnera for Gammaproteobacteria.[8]
Some of the largest virions like Megavirus chilense, Pandoravirus, Pithovirus and Mimivirus are comparable in size to miniature bacteria like "T. whipplei" and Rickettsia conorii.
References
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