Global phylogeny of Treponema pallidum lineages reveals recent expansion and spread of contemporary syphilis.

Syphilis, which is caused by the sexually transmitted bacterium Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum, has an estimated 6.3 million cases worldwide per annum. In the past ten years, the incidence of syphilis has increased by more than 150% in some high-income countries, but the evolution and epidemiology of the epidemic are poorly understood. To characterize the global population structure of T. pallidum, we assembled a geographically and temporally diverse collection of 726 genomes from 626 clinical and 100 laboratory samples collected in 23 countries. We applied phylogenetic analyses and clustering, and found that the global syphilis population comprises just two deeply branching lineages, Nichols and SS14. Both lineages are currently circulating in 12 of the 23 countries sampled. We subdivided T. p. pallidum into 17 distinct sublineages to provide further phylodynamic resolution. Importantly, two Nichols sublineages have expanded clonally across 9 countries contemporaneously with SS14. Moreover, pairwise genome analyses revealed examples of isolates collected within the last 20 years from 14 different countries that had genetically identical core genomes, which might indicate frequent exchange through international transmission. It is striking that most samples collected before 1983 are phylogenetically distinct from more recently isolated sublineages. Using Bayesian temporal analysis, we detected a population bottleneck occurring during the late 1990s, followed by rapid population expansion in the 2000s that was driven by the dominant T. pallidum sublineages circulating today. This expansion may be linked to changing epidemiology, immune evasion or fitness under antimicrobial selection pressure, since many of the contemporary syphilis lineages we have characterized are resistant to macrolides.

Effect of the pheromone-responsive G(alpha) and phosphatase proteins of Saccharomyces cerevisiae on the subcellular localization of the Fus3 mitogen-activated protein kinase.

The mating-specific G(alpha) protein of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Gpa1, stimulates adaptation to pheromone by a mechanism independent of G(beta gamma) sequestration. Genetic evidence suggests that Gpa1 targets the Fus3 mitogen-activated protein kinase, and it has recently been shown that the two proteins interact in cells responding to pheromone. To test the possibility that Gpa1 downregulates the mating signal by affecting the localization of Fus3, we created a Fus3-green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion protein. In vegetative cells, Fus3-GFP was found in both the cytoplasm and the nucleus. Pheromone stimulated a measurable increase in the ratio of nuclear to cytoplasmic Fus3-GFP. In contrast, the relative level of nuclear Fus3-GFP decreased as cells recovered from pheromone arrest and did not increase when cells adapted to chronic stimulus were challenged again. Accumulation of Fus3-GFP in the nuclei of stimulated cells was also inhibited by overexpression of either wild-type Gpa1, the E364K hyperadaptive mutant form of Gpa1, or the Msg5 dually specific phosphatase. The effects of Gpa1 and Msg5 on Fus3 are partially interdependent. In a genetic screen for adaptive defective mutants, a nonsense allele of the nucleocytoplasmic transport receptor, Kap104, was identified. Truncation of the Kap104 cargo-binding domain blocked the effect of both Gpa1(E364K) and Msg5 on Fus3-GFP localization. Based on these results, we propose that Gpa1 and Msg5 work in concert to downregulate the mating signal and that they do so by inhibiting the pheromone-induced increase of Fus3 in the nucleus. Kap104 is required for the G(alpha)/phosphatase-mediated effect on Fus3 localization.

Syphilis epidemiology in 1994-2013, molecular epidemiological strain typing and determination of macrolide resistance in Treponema pallidum in 2013-2014 in Tuva Republic, Russia.

The incidence of syphilis in the Tuva Republic (geographical centre of Asia), Russia has been exceedingly high historically. No detailed examinations and no molecular investigations of Treponema pallidum strains transmitted in the Tuva Republic, or in general, in Russia, were published internationally. We examined the syphilis epidemiology in 1994-2013, and the molecular epidemiology and macrolide resistance in T. pallidum strains in 2013-2014 in the Tuva Republic. Among 95 mainly primary or secondary syphilis patients, the arp, tpr, tp0548 and 23S rRNA genes in 85 polA gene-positive genital ulcer specimens were characterized. The syphilis incidence in Tuva Republic peaked in 1998 (1562), however declined to 177 in 2013. Among the 70 (82%) completely genotyped specimens, six molecular strain types were found. Strain type 14d/f accounted for 91%, but also 14c/f, 14d/g, 14b/f, 14i/f, 9d/f, and 4d/f were identified. Two (2.4%) specimens contained the 23S rRNA A2058G macrolide resistance mutation. This is the first internationally published typing study regarding T. pallidum in Russia, performed in the Tuva Republic with the highest syphilis incidence in Russia. The two molecular strain types 4d/f and 9d/f have previously been described only in Eastern and Northern China and for the first time, macrolide-resistant syphilis was described in Russia.