A mutagenic PCR identifies isolates of Borrelia garinii responsible for Lyme borreliosis.
Borrelia garinii is one of the three major Borreliae responsible for Lyme borreliosis in Europe. We have characterized a protein of B. garinii (VS102) and a genomic fragment from the gene encoding this protein was cloned. The DNA sequence of the fragment showed high homology with a known gene of B. burgdorferi sensu stricto. The protein encoded by this gene in B. burgdorferi sensu stricto is a phosphocarrier protein (histidine-containing protein). A mutation T to G polymorphism at codon 57 was found to be specific to B. garinii. A PCR-based approach that allows the rapid detection of this mutation made it possible to specifically discriminate B. garinii from other B. burgdorferi genospecies with high sensitivity and specificity.
Mueller
C
C
Infectious Disease and Immunology, Institut Central des Hôpitaux Valaisans, Sion, Switzerland.
Hutter
P
P
Sahli
R
R
Bretz
A
A
Toutoungi
L N
LN
Péter
O
O
D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001483:Base Sequence; D001898:Borrelia / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000382:microbiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D010731:Phosphoenolpyruvate Sugar Phosphotransferase System / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D010731:Phosphoenolpyruvate Sugar Phosphotransferase System; C030182:phosphocarrier protein HPr