''Leptospira biflexa'' is a

spirochaete A spirochaete () or spirochete is a member of the phylum Spirochaetota (), (synonym Spirochaetes) which contains distinctive diderm (double-membrane) gram-negative bacteria, most of which have long, helically coiled (corkscrew-shaped or s ...

bacterium in the genus ''

Leptospira ''Leptospira'' ( grc, leptos, italics=yes, 'fine, thin' and la, spira, links=no, 'coil') is a genus of spirochaete bacteria, including a small number of pathogenic and saprophytic species. ''Leptospira'' was first observed in 1907 in kidney t ...

'' and was the first saprophytic Leptospira genome to be sequenced.

Morphology and physiology

''Leptospira biflexa'' are a helix shaped bacterium containing periplasmic flagella that allow for high motility and can contribute to virulence in pathogenic species and colonization of diverse environments. Studies have identified 5 bactofilin proteins associated with cytoskeletal properties that are conserved across ''

Leptospiraceae The Leptospiraceae are a family of spirochete bacteria. It includes the genus ''Leptospira'' which contains some pathogenic species. Systematic These genera belong to the family Leptospiraceae: * '' Leptonema'' (with species '' Leptonema ill ...

.'' The LbbD protein family was found to influence the helical pitch distance and the helical structure of ''L. biflexa''; in turn an impact on motility and ability to tolerate cell wall stress was observed.

Importance

''Leptospira biflexa'' are a species of genus

consisting of pathogenic and free living saprophytic bacterial species. ''L. biflexa'' is a free-living saprophytic spirochete that survives exclusively in external environments and was the first

saprophytic Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi (f ...

'' genome to be sequenced unveiling a total of 3,590 protein-coding genes distributed across three circular replicons. Due to the fast growth rate and ease of genetic manipulation the use of this model bacterium species allows insight to gene functions within ''

.'' ''L. biflexa'' contains a mechanical barrier of

lipopolysaccharide Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) are large molecules consisting of a lipid and a polysaccharide that are bacterial toxins. They are composed of an O-antigen, an outer core, and an inner core all joined by a covalent bond, and are found in the outer m ...

s within the outer membrane to defend against

hydrophilic A hydrophile is a molecule or other molecular entity that is attracted to water molecules and tends to be dissolved by water.Liddell, H.G. & Scott, R. (1940). ''A Greek-English Lexicon'' Oxford: Clarendon Press. In contrast, hydrophobes are no ...

agents and toxic compounds. A study conducted found that there are 29 genes associated with the

mutagen In genetics, a mutagen is a physical or chemical agent that permanently changes nucleic acid, genetic material, usually DNA, in an organism and thus increases the frequency of mutations above the natural background level. As many mutations can ca ...

ic EtBr sensitivity within ''L. biflexa.'' The sigma-54 was found to control genes involved in nitrogen uptake and metabolism including '' amtB1, glnB-amtB2, ntrX and narK'' which contribute to the long-term environmental survival of ''Leptospira'' spp''.''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q47174811 biflexa Wikipedia Student Program