Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato strains isolated from cutaneous Lyme borreliosis biopsies differentiated by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.
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.
Busch
U
U
Max von Pettenkofer-Institut, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany.
Hizo-Teufel
C
C
Böhmer
R
R
Fingerle
V
V
Rössler
D
D
Wilske
B
B
Preac-Mursic
V
V
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