Spiroplasma - an emerging arthropod-borne pathogen?

• Published in: Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine 2015-01, Vol.22 (4), p.589-593
• Main Authors: Cisak, Ewa, Wójcik-Fatla, Angelina, Zając, Violetta, Sawczyn, Anna, Sroka, Jacek, Dutkiewicz, Jacek
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Aquatic insects; Bacteria; Commensals; Communicable Diseases, Emerging - microbiology; Communicable Diseases, Emerging - transmission; Contractility; Crustacea; Crustaceans; Cytoskeleton; Diptera - microbiology; Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections - microbiology; Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections - transmission; Gram-positive bacteria; Humans; insects; pathogenicity; Pathogens; Plant bacterial diseases; plants; Salivary gland; Spiroplasma; Spiroplasma - classification; Spiroplasma - physiology; Spiroplasma spp; ticks; Ticks - microbiology; Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy; Vertebrates
• ISSN: 1232-1966; 1898-2263
• DOI: 10.5604/12321966.1185758

Spiroplasma is a genus of wall-less, low-GC, small Gram-positive bacteria of the internal contractile cytoskeleton, with helical morphology and motility. The genus is classified within the class Mollicutes. Spiroplasma / host interactions can be classified as commensal, pathogenic or mutualist. The majority of spiroplasmas are found to be commensals of insects, arachnids, crustaceans or plants, whereas a small number of species are pathogens of plants, insects, and crustaceans. Insects are particularly rich sources of spiroplasmas. The bacteria are common in haematophagous arthropods: deerflies, horseflies, mosquitoes, and in ticks, where they may occur abundantly in salivary glands. The ability of spiroplasmas to propagate in rodents was experimentally proven, and Spiroplasma infections have been reported recently in humans. Some authors have purported an etiological role of Spiroplasma in causing transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), but convincing proof is lacking. The possibility for humans and other vertebrates to be infected with Spiroplasma spp. in natural conditions is largely unknown, as well as the possibility of the transmission of these bacteria by ticks and haematophagous insects. Nevertheless, in the light of new data, such possibilities cannot be excluded.