title: Isolation of Borrelia burgdorferi from saliva of the tick vector, Ixodes scapularis.
abstract: A method for cultivating and isolating Lyme disease spirochetes, Borrelia burgdorferi, from the saliva of vector ticks, Ixodes scapularis (formerly known as Ixodes dammini), is described. Saliva was collected from partially engorged ticks after application of pilocarpine to induce salivation. B. burgdorferi was isolated from 8 of 14 (57%) of the saliva samples derived from ticks infected with the bacteria, as determined by direct immunofluorescent-antibody assay of tick hemolymph. A comparison of the protein profiles of the salivary isolates and a highly passaged strain (B31) showed that the salivary isolates all lacked a 22-kDa protein known to increase with continuous passage, but exhibited larger amounts of the OspA and OspB proteins than did the highly passaged B31 strain.
authors.affiliation: Center for Vector-Borne Disease, University of Rhode Island, Kingston 02881.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ewing
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Scorpio
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: T N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Mather
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001096:Arachnid Vectors / Q000382:microbiology*; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006458:Hemolymph / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D008074:Lipoproteins; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission; D008970:Molecular Weight; D012463:Saliva / Q000382:microbiology; D013987:Ticks / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D000954:Antigens, Surface; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D008074:Lipoproteins; C072045:OspA protein; C077030:OspB protein, Borrelia burgdorferi