Table 2.
Spirochetes that form RBs
| Taxon | Location | Freeliving (F)/symbiotic (S) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Borrelia duttoni | Africa, Congo | S (ticks) | ref. 26 |
| Borrelia burgdorferi | Norway | S (ticks, humans) | ref. 5 |
| Bradyspira sp. | Denmark | S (pigs) | ref. 36 |
| Clone 16, unnamed spirochete | Spain | F (marine mud)* | ref. 37 |
| Leptospira sp. | Ecuador | F (riparian mud) | Gabriel Trueba† |
| Mixotricha epibiotic treponemes | Australia | S (termites) | Renate Radek† |
| Perfilievia russensis, Spirochaeta perfilievii ref. 7, † | Crimea, Staraya Russia, Pacific | F (sulfidic mud)* Saline fresh water |
ref. 7, † |
| Spirochaeta coccoides | Caribbean | S (termite) | ref. 14 |
| Spirochaeta bajacaliforniensis | BCN, Mexico | F (marine mud)* | John F. Stolz† Stephen Fracek† |
| Spirosymplokos deltaeiberi | Spain (Catalanya) | F (marine mud)* | refs. 1, 46 |
| Spirosymplokos mexicanus | BCN, Mexico | F (marine mud)* | ref. 46, Thomas Teal† |
| Spirosymplokos sippewissettensis | Cape Cod, MA | F (marine mud)* | Thomas Teal† Lois Brynes† |
| Treponema pallidum | France | S (humans) | ref. 36 |
Free-living means that the spirochete has been observed to grow unassociated with an animal in nature and/or in culture. Symbiosis, in this table, refers to obligate symbionts of animals that have reduced genomes and are invariably found in nature in association with animal tissue. BCN, Baja California Norte.
*Mud at bottom of laminated microbial mats dominated by cyanobacteria.
†Berlin Natural History Museum Conference on Spirochete Co-evolution in the Proterozoic Eon, May 1–2, 2008, Berlin, Germany.