title: Detection of Borrelia burgdorferi in biological samples using the polymerase chain reaction assay.
abstract: Oligonucleotide primers were used in the polymerase chain reaction assay to amplify specific DNA regions of the Borrelia burgdorferi 49-kb linear plasmid. One set of primers identifies a 442-bp DNA fragment in the OspA gene and a second pair of amplimers, a 176-bp DNA piece located in the OspB gene. The last set of primers, OspBpc3/pc4, outperformed the other pair in discriminating pathogenic North American or European isolates from related bacterial species, detected down to 4 spirochaetes, and was suitable for the identification of B. burgdorferi in biological samples, such as synovial and cerebrospinal fluids.
authors.affiliation: Service for Applied Genetics, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Nivelles, Belgium.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Debue
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gautier
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hackel
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Van Elsen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Herzog
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bigaignon
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bollen
mesh_terms: D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D013582:Synovial Fluid / Q000382:microbiology