The Spirochaete Groups at the Institute Pasteur
Unité de Bactériologie Moléculaire et Médicale,
Institut Pasteur,
28 rue du Dr Roux,
75724 Paris cedex 15,
FRANCE.
telephone +33 1 45 68 83 37 (secretariat) +33 1 45 68 80 00 (switchboard)
fax + 33 1 40 61 30 01
Publications 1990-1997
Research Interests
Spirochaetes are zoonosis agents which can affect man.
Leptospirosis is an acute illness which can cause death while
Lyme borreliosis is a chronic disease, the etiologic agent of
which was recently discovered (1982). Our main interests were
Leptospira interrogans and Borrelia burgdorferi, but now includes
Serpulina, an agent of swine dysentery which can also colonize
the human intestinal tract, and Treponema denticola, one of the
agents of periodontal diseases. The main results obtained are
the following:
1) The delineation of three pathogenic species of B. burgdorferi sensu lato, agent of Lyme borreliosis and identification of 7 other species and several further genomospecies.
2) Spirochaete genome structure. Genetic and physical maps of
the linear chromosomes of the three new species of B.
burgdorferi. (Evidence for a linear chromosome was presented in
1990). Evidence for two circular chromosomes for Leptospira
interrogans and for a circular chromosome and a cryptic plasmid
for Treponema denticola .
3) Identification of Leptospira interrogans by ribotyping,
Arbitrarily Primed PCR and pulsed field gel electrophoresis.
The "Unité de Bactériologie Moléculaire et Médicale" includes a National Reference Centre and WHO Collaborative Centre for Leptospira. The presence of these centres implies applied research including
for example, improvement of diagnostic methods by ELISA and
PCR, and identification by pulsed field gel electrophoresis.
Leptospires & Lyme Group
Group Leader
Professor Guy Baranton gbaran@pasteur.fr +33 (0)1 45 68 80 00 ext 72 32
Head of the Molecular and Medical Bacteriology Unit
Permanent Scientific Staff
Dr Danièle Postic dpostic@pasteur.fr +33 (0)1 45 68 83 67
Temporary Scientific Staff
Ms Nuria Marti Ras nmarti@pasteur.fr +33 (0)1 45 68 80 00 ext 72 08
Technical Staff
Ms Pascale Amouriaux-Bourhy pbourhy@pasteur.fr +33 (0)1 45 68 80 00 ext 72 08
Ms Elisabeth Bellenger ebellen@pasteur.fr+33 (0)1 45 68 80 00 ext 72 34
Ms Edith Fournie-Amazouz serpu@pasteur.fr+33 (0)1 45 68 80 00 ext 79 42
Ms Natacha Sertour nsertour@pasteur.fr+33 (0)1 45 68 80 00 ext 72 34
Molecular Genetics of Spirochetes Group
Group Leader
Dr Isabelle Saint Girons isgirons@pasteur.fr +33 (0)1 45 68 83 66
Head of the Bacteriology and Mycology Department
Permanent Scientific Staff
Dr Catherine Werts cwerts@pasteur.fr +33 (0)1 45 68 83 68
(On Leave)
Temporary Scientific Staff
Ms Audrey Brenot abrenot@pasteur.fr +33 (0)1 45 68 80 00 ext 72 33
Technical Staff
Ms Catherine Ottone cotton@pasteur.fr +33 (0)1 45 68 80 00 ext 72 33
Secretarial Staff
Ms Annie Duvaquier spiroc@pasteur.fr +33 (0)1 45 68 83 37
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