title: Polymerase chain reaction analyses identify two distinct classes of Borrelia burgdorferi.
abstract: We sequenced homologous chromosomal loci from several North American and European isolates of the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, as well as from the relapsing fever spirochete Borrelia hermsii. Inter- and intraspecies sequence comparisons permitted the design of B. burgdorferi-specific polymerase chain reaction primers that detected all strains tested (n = 31) from diverse geographical and biological origins. Polymerase chain reaction "typing" with other unique sets of primers subdivided B. burgdorferi isolates into two groups: all North American isolates and a few European isolates made up one group, while the majority of the European and Asian isolates made up the second group. This classification may have a clinical correlate reflected in differences between "typical" Lyme borreliosis in North America and Europe.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbial Structure and Function, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Hamilton, Montana 59840.
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Rosa
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hogan
authors.forename: T G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Schwan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D005060:Europe; D006801:Humans; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000382:microbiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009656:North America; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial