Johns Hopkins ABX Guide
Tropheryma whipplei
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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Last updated: October 15, 2025
Citation
Auwaerter, Paul. "Tropheryma Whipplei." Johns Hopkins ABX Guide, The Johns Hopkins University, 2025. Johns Hopkins Guides, www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_ABX_Guide/540566/all/Tropheryma_whipplei.
Auwaerter P. Tropheryma whipplei. Johns Hopkins ABX Guide. The Johns Hopkins University; 2025. https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_ABX_Guide/540566/all/Tropheryma_whipplei. Accessed October 29, 2025.
Auwaerter, P. (2025). Tropheryma whipplei. In Johns Hopkins ABX Guide. The Johns Hopkins University. https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_ABX_Guide/540566/all/Tropheryma_whipplei
Auwaerter P. Tropheryma Whipplei [Internet]. In: Johns Hopkins ABX Guide. The Johns Hopkins University; 2025. [cited 2025 October 29]. Available from: https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_ABX_Guide/540566/all/Tropheryma_whipplei.
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