Project information
RNA sequencing of Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum

Syphilis genomic analyses have lagged behind those of other bacterial pathogens due to the absence of robust in vitro cultivation systems. Our group has been at the forefront of efforts to develop new techniques for genomic sequencing directly from clinical specimens (Arora et al. 2016, Strouhal et al. 2018, Grillová et al. 2018, Grillová et al. 2019). While these techniques have enabled a rapid increase in the number of published TPA genomes, relatively few T. pallidum transcriptomic analyses have been published to date. Knowledge of both the genetic diversity and expression of candidate Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum (TPA) vaccine targets is essential to the development of a successful broadly protective TPA vaccine. To complement our ongoing DNA sequencing efforts as part of the parent U19 (“A Global Syphilis Vaccine Targeting Outer Membrane Proteins,” U19AI144177), we will develop robust RNA-Seq pipelines for transcriptomic analysis and employ them to study the gene expression of TPA laboratory strains we are currently passaging in our laboratory.