Borrelia burgdorferi erp (ospE-related) gene sequences remain stable during mammalian infection.
A number of studies have indicated that Borrelia burgdorferi erp genes need not vary during vertebrate infection. However, it was recently reported that a B. burgdorferi bacterium reisolated from an infected mouse evidenced mutation and recombination events in several erp genes. Reexamination of that reisolate indicates that the previously reported changes were no doubt artifacts of the PCR processes originally used to clone those DNAs. Thus, no evidence has been found of erp gene variation during mammalian infection.
Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, Kentucky 40536-0298, USA. bstev0@uky.edu
Brian
B
Stevenson
D000818:Animals; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001483:Base Sequence; D025065:Borrelia burgdorferi / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D014644:Genetic Variation; D008074:Lipoproteins; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000382:microbiology*; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D008074:Lipoproteins; C084998:OspE protein, Borrelia burgdorferi