Tropheryma whipplei

Paul Auwaerter, M.D.

MICROBIOLOGY

Tropheryma whipplei is the agent of Whipple’s disease (WD), an actinobacterium with a distant relationship to Actinomyces by 16s rDNA sequencing.
Detected in multiple environmental samples, including soil and sewage. Considered ubiquitous.
A fastidious organism, 0.25 µm rods may appear Gram-positive upon staining.
- Has a characteristic trilaminar cell membrane on electron microscopy [Fig. 1].
Correct nomenclature: Tropheryma whipplei (not T. whippelii).

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