title: Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato strains isolated from cutaneous Lyme borreliosis biopsies differentiated by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.
abstract: 25 skin biopsy isolates of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, mainly from German patients with erythema migrans [EM], borrelial lymphocytoma [BL] and acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans [ACA], were species-differentiated using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). The isolates revealed 15 B. afzelii, 8 B. garinii and 2 B. burgdorferi sensu stricto species according to Miu I digestion. All 6 ACA isolates were identified as B. afzelii species, whereas the 2 borrelial lymphocytoma isolates were grouped into B. garinii species. 12 B. afzelii strains, including 4 ACA isolates, were further investigated by digestion with 5 restriction enzymes. Most of the strains revealed an individual pattern. No specific characteristically large restriction fragment pattern (LRFP) could be detected within the ACA and/or EM group. The ACA isolates could not be clearly differentiated from the EM isolates according to the LRFP patterns. PFGE is thus a highly effective method for detecting differences among B. afzelii isolates.
authors.affiliation: Max von Pettenkofer-Institut, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Busch
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hizo-Teufel
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Böhmer
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fingerle
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rössler
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wilske
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Preac-Mursic
mesh_terms: D001706:Biopsy; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D006801:Humans; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000382:microbiology*; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012703:Serotyping; D012867:Skin / Q000382:microbiology*; D013045:Species Specificity