Distinct combinations of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato genospecies found in individual questing ticks from Europe.
The genetic diversity of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato was assessed in individual adult Ixodes ricinus ticks from Europe by direct PCR amplification of spirochetal DNA followed by genospecies-specific hybridization. Analysis of mixed infections in the ticks showed that B. garinii and B. valaisiana segregate from B. afzelii. This and previous findings suggest that host complement interacts with spirochetes in the tick, thereby playing an important role in the ecology of Lyme borreliosis.
Kurtenbach
K
K
The Wellcome Trust Centre for the Epidemiology of Infectious Disease, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom. klaus.kurtenbach@ceid.ox.ac.uk
De Michelis
S
S
Sewell
H S
HS
Etti
S
S
Schäfer
S M
SM
Hails
R
R
Collares-Pereira
M
M
Santos-Reis
M
M
Haninçová
K
K
Labuda
M
M
Bormane
A
A
Donaghy
M
M
D000818:Animals; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D005060:Europe; D018884:Ixodes / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology*; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods