Detection and typing of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato genospecies in Ixodes persulcatus ticks in West Siberia, Russia.
The prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) genospecies in West Siberia as well as in many other regions of Russia remains insufficiently investigated. In the present study a total of 151 adult female ticks Ixodes persulcatus Schulze, collected at three localities in eastern regions of West Siberia, where Lyme disease is endemic, were examined for the presence of the spirochete B. burgdorferi s.l. by polymerase chain reaction targeting the 23S-5S rRNA intergenic spacer regions. Spirochetal DNA was detected in on average 15.2+/-3.0% of the ticks examined. The infection rate of adult ticks with B. burgdorferi s.l. at various localities ranged from 8.6+/-3.4% to 29.0+/-7.6%, being greatest in the northernmost site studied and decreasing southwards. The restriction patterns obtained after MseI digestion of the 23S-5S rRNA intergenic spacer amplicons assigned 23 DNA samples to the following genomic groups: 19 to B. garinii (12 to group NT29 and seven to group 20047(T)), three to B. afzelii, and one to mixed B. afzelii and B. garinii NT29. We have not detected other genospecies, which were found in ticks in Europe, the Russian Far East and Japan. Thus, the ticks examined were associated only with two genospecies of Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. pathogenic to humans (B. garinii and B. afzelii), and B. garinii was the major genospecies infecting adult I. persulcatus in eastern regions of West Siberia.
Laboratory of Gene Engineering, Institute of Biochemistry, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, 630117, Novosibirsk, Russia.
Anatoly B
AB
Beklemishev
Andrey K
AK
Dobrotvorsky
Anna V
AV
Piterina
Igor D
ID
Ivanov
Nataliya Yu
NY
Nomokonova
Nataliya N
NN
Livanova
D000818:Animals; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018884:Ixodes / Q000382:microbiology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D012338:RNA, Ribosomal, 23S / Q000235:genetics; D012341:RNA, Ribosomal, 5S / Q000235:genetics; D012426:Russia; D012800:Siberia
D012329:RNA, Bacterial; D012338:RNA, Ribosomal, 23S; D012341:RNA, Ribosomal, 5S