title: New genomospecies related to Borrelia valaisiana, isolated from mammals in Okinawa archipelago, Japan.
abstract: In 2000 and 2001, a survey was conducted of Borrelia isolated from various mammals in the southernmost islands of Japan, including Okinawa (main island), Izena, Iriomote and Ishigaki. Isolates obtained from the ear tissues of Suncus murinus (10 isolates), Mus calori (four isolates), Rattus norvegicus (one isolate) and Crocidura watasei (one isolate), were characterized by RFLP of the 5S-23S rDNA intergenic spacer and sequence analysis of the intergenic spacer, 16S rDNA and flagellin gene. While these isolates showed identical RFLPs to Borrelia valaisiana found in Korea, Taiwan and the southern and central parts of China, their RFLP patterns differed from those of B. valaisiana found in European countries, and strain Am501 isolated from Ixodes columnae in Japan. It was found that these isolates clustered with each other on a phylogenetic tree based on flagellin gene and 16S rDNA sequences, but were relatively divergent from the European B. valaisiana and strain Am501. These findings suggest that these isolates found in East Asia should be classified as a new genomospecies of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, and COE Program in the 21st Century, University of Shizuoka School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shizuoka 422-8526, Japan 2Department of Parasitology, Aichi Medical University, Aichi 480-1195, Japan 3Okinawa Prefectural Institute of Health and Environment, Okinawa 901-1202, Japan 4Department of Bacteriology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Masuzawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, and COE Program in the 21st Century, University of Shizuoka School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shizuoka 422-8526, Japan 2Department of Parasitology, Aichi Medical University, Aichi 480-1195, Japan 3Okinawa Prefectural Institute of Health and Environment, Okinawa 901-1202, Japan 4Department of Bacteriology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan.
authors.forename: Naoya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, and COE Program in the 21st Century, University of Shizuoka School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shizuoka 422-8526, Japan 2Department of Parasitology, Aichi Medical University, Aichi 480-1195, Japan 3Okinawa Prefectural Institute of Health and Environment, Okinawa 901-1202, Japan 4Department of Bacteriology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan.
authors.forename: Midori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kudeken
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, and COE Program in the 21st Century, University of Shizuoka School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shizuoka 422-8526, Japan 2Department of Parasitology, Aichi Medical University, Aichi 480-1195, Japan 3Okinawa Prefectural Institute of Health and Environment, Okinawa 901-1202, Japan 4Department of Bacteriology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan.
authors.forename: Teruki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kadosaka
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, and COE Program in the 21st Century, University of Shizuoka School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shizuoka 422-8526, Japan 2Department of Parasitology, Aichi Medical University, Aichi 480-1195, Japan 3Okinawa Prefectural Institute of Health and Environment, Okinawa 901-1202, Japan 4Department of Bacteriology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaji
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, and COE Program in the 21st Century, University of Shizuoka School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shizuoka 422-8526, Japan 2Department of Parasitology, Aichi Medical University, Aichi 480-1195, Japan 3Okinawa Prefectural Institute of Health and Environment, Okinawa 901-1202, Japan 4Department of Bacteriology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kawabata
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, and COE Program in the 21st Century, University of Shizuoka School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shizuoka 422-8526, Japan 2Department of Parasitology, Aichi Medical University, Aichi 480-1195, Japan 3Okinawa Prefectural Institute of Health and Environment, Okinawa 901-1202, Japan 4Department of Bacteriology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan.
authors.forename: Nobuo
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Koizumi
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, and COE Program in the 21st Century, University of Shizuoka School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shizuoka 422-8526, Japan 2Department of Parasitology, Aichi Medical University, Aichi 480-1195, Japan 3Okinawa Prefectural Institute of Health and Environment, Okinawa 901-1202, Japan 4Department of Bacteriology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Imai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000032:analysis; D005408:Flagellin / Q000235:genetics; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D007564:Japan; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D008322:Mammals / Q000382:microbiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D005408:Flagellin