Ryan Rego - Guest Editor pro Speciální vydání Pathogens

Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues

Spirochetes are an intriguing group of bacteria. Appearing very diverse when looking at their habitat, ecology, and in many instances their infectivity of vertebrate and non-vertebrate hosts, they are often considered together because of their similar cellular morphologies. They usually are long and thin and can be shaped like flat waves, helices, or more irregular morphologies. As mentioned, a large number of members of this group are known to be pathogens causing diseases worldwide such as Lyme disease, relapsing fever, syphilis, brachyspiral dysentery, and leptospirosis. They are all very different in their genomes which can be very segmented as in the Lyme disease Borrelia that have linear and circular plasmids besides the chromosome to a single circular genome in Treponema spp., the pathogen responsible for syphilis. Besides being unique among bacteria in their motility, which enables them to move within the tissue of their hosts, they also depend on a host of outer surface proteins for evasion of the innate and adaptive immune response within the host.

Spirochetes causing Lyme disease, relapsing fever, and leptospirosis are zoonotic in nature, with the first two mentioned having a tick host, which acts as a vector, within their zoonotic cycle. The identification and description of the adaptations required for pathogenic spirochetes to be able to enter, disseminate, persist, and infect is still very new, interesting, and challenging. An increased understanding in this field is fundamental to the discovery and implementation of strategies for better diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.

I would like to invite colleagues investigating any of the pathogenic spirochetes within the areas of their ecology, genetics, genomics, immunology, detection, public health, and vaccine development to submit their manuscripts to this Special Issue in the form of original research and reviews.

Dr. Ryan O. M. Rego
Guest Editor

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/pathogens/special_issues/Twists_Turns_Pathogenic_Spirochetes