Leptospira
| Leptospira | |
|---|---|
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| Scanning electron micrograph of Leptospira interrogans. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Bacteria |
| Phylum: | Spirochaetes |
| Class: | Spirochaetes |
| Order: | Leptospirales |
| Family: | Leptospiraceae |
| Genus: |
Leptospira Noguchi 1917 emend. Faine & Stallman 1982 non Swainson 1840 non Boucot, Johnson & Staton 1964 |
| Species | |
| Synonyms | |
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Leptospira (Greek leptos, "fine, thin" and Latin spira, "coil") is a genus of spirochaete bacteria, including a small number of pathogenic and saprophytic species.Leptospira was first observed in 1907 in kidney tissue slices of a leptospirosis victim who was described as having died of "yellow fever."
Leptospira, together with the genera Leptonema and Turneria, is a member of the family Leptospiraceae. The genus Leptospira is divided into 20 species based on DNA hybridization studies.
Pathogenic Leptospira
Intermediates or opportunistic Leptospira
Non-pathogenic Leptospira
Members of Leptospira are also grouped into serovars according to their antigenic relatedness. There are currently over 200 recognized serovars. A few serovars are found in more than one species of Leptospira.
At its 2002 meeting, the Committee on the Taxonomy of Leptospira of the International Union of Microbiological Societies approved the following nomenclature for serovars of Leptospira. Genus and species must of course be italicized, with the serovar name not italicized and with an upper case first letter.
For example:
The currently accepted taxonomy is based on the List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature (LPSN) and National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), and the phylogeny is based on 16S rRNA-based LTP release 123 by 'The All-Species Living Tree' Project.
L. idonii Saito et al. 2013
L. wolbachii Yasuda et al. 1987
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