Molecular characterization of a 35-kilodalton protein of Borrelia burgdorferi, an antigen of diagnostic importance in early Lyme disease.
Antibodies against a 35-kDa antigen of Borrelia burgdorferi are detectable in the serum of about half of patients with early Lyme disease. The gene encoding this antigen was isolated from a genomic library of B. burgdorferi B31 (low passage), and full-length expression of the recombinant gene product was achieved in Escherichia coli. Antiserum raised against the recombinant protein was reactive with a B. burgdorferi protein of the same molecular size as the diagnostic 35-kDa antigen cited in an earlier study of criteria for the sero-diagnosis of early Lyme disease. Also, the recombinant protein was reactive with serum from patients with early Lyme disease who were seropositive for the 35-kDa antigen. DNA sequence analysis of the gene indicated an open reading frame of 909 bp encoding a protein with a calculated molecular mass of 34.3 kDa. This gene did not possess the usual initiation codon ATG but rather probably used a TTG codon. The deduced amino acid sequence of the N terminus exhibited a motif similar to that for signal peptides of lipoproteins. Southern blotting revealed a chromosomal location for this gene; and it was specific for B. burgdorferi, B. afzellii, and B. garinii but not for B. hermsii, B. coriaciae, or B. turicatae.
Gilmore
R D
RD
National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, Colorado 80521, USA. rbg9@cidvbil.em.cdc.gov
Kappel
K J
KJ
Johnson
B J
BJ
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017421:Sequence Analysis
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D004269:DNA, Bacterial