title: Molecular analysis of decorin-binding protein A (DbpA) reveals five major groups among European Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato strains with impact for the development of serological assays and indicates lateral gene transfer of the dbpA gene.
abstract: The Borrelia (B.) burgdorferi adhesin DbpA (decorin-binding protein A) is a valuable antigen for serodiagnosis of Lyme borreliosis and a promising candidate for a vaccine. To investigate the heterogeneity of DbpA, we aligned DNA sequences of 83 different dbpA genes (37 from the database, where the majority of sequences belong to B. burgdorferi sensu stricto and 46 were newly sequenced). Analysis of 25 sequences from the species B. burgdorferi s.s., 16 from B. afzelii, 40 from B. garinii, and two from the recently described human pathogenic genospecies A14S revealed five distinct DbpA groups. Group I comprises B. burgdorferi s.s. and group II B. afzelii. B. garinii is divided into groups III and IV, whereas A14S strains form group V. Formation of groups is mainly due to insertions of whole sequence sections. Comparison of dbpA sequences with ospC sequences from a subset of 59 strains revealed all kinds of cross-connections indicating processes of lateral gene transfer among strains. The extent of sequence identity within the dbpA genes decreases from the DNA (67%) to the amino acid (AA) level (44%) by about 23%, in contrast ospC sequence identities differed only by about 10%. This might be an indication that DbpA plays an important role in immune escape. Immunoblots using four recombinant DbpAs representing groups I-IV show that DbpA proteins are sensitive and specific antigens and complement one another in their reactivity. Part of the sera showed group-specific reactivity which could also be demonstrated with monoclonal antibodies.
authors.affiliation: Max von Pettenkofer-Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Hygiene, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Pettenkoferstr. 9a, D-80336 Munich, Germany. spechtel@m3401.mpk.med.uni-muenchen.de
authors.forename: Ulrike
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schulte-Spechtel
authors.forename: Volker
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fingerle
authors.forename: Gereon
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Goettner
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rogge
authors.forename: Bettina
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wilske
mesh_terms: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000235:genetics; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000235:genetics*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D008074:Lipoproteins / Q000235:genetics; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000175:diagnosis; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D012698:Serologic Tests / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D000954:Antigens, Surface; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; C112557:DdpB protein, Borrelia burgdorferi; D008074:Lipoproteins; C072045:OspA protein; C079616:OspC protein