Characterization of cp18, a naturally truncated member of the cp32 family of Borrelia burgdorferi plasmids.
We have mapped the genes encoding the antigenic lipoproteins OspE and OspF to an approximately 18-kb circular plasmid in Borrelia burgdorferi N40. Sequencing and restriction mapping have revealed that this plasmid, cp18, is homologous to an 18-kb region of the cp32 circular plasmids found in the Lyme disease spirochetes. Our data show that cp18 may have arisen from an ancestral cp32 plasmid by deletion of a 14-kb region of DNA, indicating that a significant portion of the cp32 plasmid is not essential in cis for plasmid maintenance. These findings suggest that a relatively small recombinant plasmid capable of being stably maintained in B. burgdorferi could be constructed from a cp32 plasmid.
Stevenson
B
B
Laboratory of Microbial Structure and Function, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Hamilton, Montana 59840, USA. brian_stevenson@nih.gov
Casjens
S
S
van Vugt
R
R
Porcella
S F
SF
Tilly
K
K
Bono
J L
JL
Rosa
P
P
D000818:Animals; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001483:Base Sequence; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000235:genetics*; D004270:DNA, Circular; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D008074:Lipoproteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010957:Plasmids; D013987:Ticks
D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004270:DNA, Circular; D008074:Lipoproteins; C084998:OspE protein, Borrelia burgdorferi; C084999:OspF protein, Borrelia burgdorferi