1. Spirochetes are thin, spiral-shaped bacteria that include Treponema, Borrelia, and Leptospira genera.
2. Treponema pallidum causes syphilis which is transmitted sexually or through direct contact. It has a characteristic spiral shape and causes primary, secondary, latent, and late stages of syphilis with varied clinical manifestations.
3. Laboratory diagnosis of syphilis involves direct visualization of T. pallidum using dark-field microscopy, serological tests like VDRL and RPR that detect non-specific reagin antibodies, and treponemal tests that detect species-specific antibodies.