Sequence variation of rare outer membrane protein β-barrel domains in clinical strains provides insights into the evolution of Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum, the syphilis spirochete.
In recent years, considerable progress has been made in topologically and functionally characterizing integral outer membrane proteins (OMPs) of Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum (TPA), the syphilis spirochete, and identifying its surface-exposed {beta}-barrel domains. Extracellular loops in OMPs of Gram-negative bacteria are known to be highly variable. We examined the sequence diversity of {beta}-barrel-encoding regions of tprC, tprD, and bamA, in 31 specimens from Cali, Colombia; San Francisco, California; and the Czech Republic and compared them to allelic variants in the 41 reference genomes in the NCBI database. To establish a phylogenetic framework, we used tp0548 genotyping and tp0558 sequences to assign strains to the Nichols or SS14 clades. We found that (i) {beta}-barrels in clinical strains could be grouped according to allelic variants in TPA reference genomes; (ii) for all three OMP loci, clinical strains within the Nichols or SS14 clades often harbored {beta}-barrel variants that differed from the Nichols and SS14 reference strains; and (iii) OMP variable regions often reside in predicted extracellular loops containing B-cell epitopes. Based upon structural models, non-conservative amino acid substitutions in predicted transmembrane {beta}-strands of TprC and TprD2 could give rise to functional differences in their porin channels. OMP profiles of some clinical strains were mosaics of different reference strains and did not correlate with results from enhanced molecular typing. Our observations suggest that human host selection pressures drive TPA OMP diversity and that genetic exchange contributes to the evolutionary biology of TPA. They also set the stage for topology-based analysis of antibody responses against OMPs and help frame strategies for syphilis vaccine development.\n\nIMPORTANCEDespite recent progress characterizing outer membrane proteins (OMPs) of Treponema pallidum (TPA), little is known about how their surface-exposed, {beta}-barrel-forming domains vary among strains circulating within high-risk populations. In this study, sequences for the {beta}-barrel-encoding regions of three OMP loci, tprC, tprD, and bamA, in TPA from a large number of patient specimens from geographically disparate sites were examined. Structural models predict that sequence variation within {beta}-barrel domains occurred predominantly within predicted extracellular loops. Amino acid substitutions in predicted transmembrane strands that could potentially affect porin channel function also were noted. Our findings suggest that selection pressures exerted by human populations drive TPA OMP diversity and that recombination at OMP loci contributes to the evolutionary biology of syphilis spirochetes. These results also set the stage for topology-based analysis of antibody responses that promote clearance of TPA and frame strategies for vaccine development based upon conserved OMP extracellular loops.