Treponema primitia
Classification
Kingdom: Bacteria
Phylum: Spirochaetes
Class: Spirochaetia
Order: Spirochaetales
Family: Spirochaetaceae
Genus: Treponema
Species: Treponema primitia
Description and Significance
Treponema primitia is a microorganism that lives in the hindgut of the termite Zootermopsis angusticolis and synthesizes acetate, the primary source of energy of their insect host, from the H2 and CO2 generated by protozoa during the fermentation of wood polysaccharides. (3)
Genomic Information
The genome of T. primitia has 3523 protein encoding genes across a genome of 4.1 megabase pairs. (1)
Related Species
Metabolism
T. primitia, as an acetogen, produces acetate.
Energy
Treponema primitia is an anaerobic organism with the ability to survive for only a short period of time in contact with outside atmosphere.
Carbon
References
(1) Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes. Treponema primitia. LINK: http://www.kegg.jp/kegg-bin/show_organism?org=T01507
(2) Leadbetter, J., Schmidt, T., Graber, J., Breznak, J. "Acetogenesis from H-2 plus CO2 by spirochetes from termite guts." Science , 1999, DOI:10.1126/science.283.5402.686
(3) Murphy, G. E., Matson, E. G., Leadbetter, J. R., Berg, H. C., Jensen, G. J. "Novel ultrastructures of treponema primitia and their implications for motility." Molecular Microbiology, 2008, 67(6), 1184–1195, DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2008.06120.x.
(4)