Rank: Species
Lineage: Bacteria;Actinobacteria;Actinobacteria;Micrococcales;unclassified;Tropheryma;Tropheryma whipplei
Description: This bacterium is the causative agent of Whipple's disease. First described by US pathologist and Nobel laureate George H. Whipple in 1907, this potentially lethal and persistent, but rare disease, manifests itself as a multisystem disorder, involving the intestinal tract (diarrhea, abdominal pain) and various other organs (heart, brain, nervious system, joints). Very little is known about the biology of this bacterium. Whipple did not associate the disease with any bacterial agent, and it was only in 1961 when bacteria were detected in electron microphotographs of affected tissues that the connection was made. In 1990, DNA typing revealed the identity of this new genus and species of actinomycetes. This organism can be grown in cell cultures and in cell free media.
Reference Material:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genome/?term=Tropheryma%20whipplei
