title: Isolation and transmission of the Lyme disease spirochete from the southeastern United States.
abstract: The isolation of the Lyme disease spirochete (Borrelia burgdorferi) from the southeastern United States is reported. Three isolates, two from cotton mice (Peromyscus gossypinus) and one from the black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis), were recovered from Sapelo Island, Georgia, in July and September 1991. The spirochetes were characterized by indirect fluorescent antibody assay using a battery of five monoclonal antibodies, by sodium dodecyl sulfate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS/PAGE) of whole cell lysates, and by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay using primers for three DNA target sequences found in B. burgdorferi reference strain B-31. Transmission experiments indicate that the three Georgia isolates can infect experimentally inoculated hamsters and mice. Tick transmission of one of the isolates has been attempted so far; I. scapularis transmitted isolate SI-1 from hamsters to mice, but the lone-star tick, Amblyomma americanum, did not.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Arthropodology and Parasitology, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro 30460.
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Oliver
authors.forename: F W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Chandler
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Luttrell
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: James
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Stallknecht
authors.forename: B S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: McGuire
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Hutcheson
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Cummins
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Lane
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000382:microbiology; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000235:genetics; D001096:Arachnid Vectors / Q000382:microbiology; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D001483:Base Sequence; D025065:Borrelia burgdorferi; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D005845:Georgia; D008074:Lipoproteins; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000382:microbiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry; D010542:Peromyscus / Q000382:microbiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013987:Ticks / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000954:Antigens, Surface; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D008074:Lipoproteins; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; C072045:OspA protein