title: First detection and molecular identification of Borrelia burgdorferi-like spirochetes in Ixodes granulatus ticks collected on Kinmen Island of Taiwan.
abstract: Borrelia burgdorferi-like spirochetes were detected for the first time in Ixodes granulatus ticks collected in Taiwan. The genetic identities of these detected spirochetes were determined by analyzing the gene sequences amplified by a genospecies-specific polymerase chain reaction assay based on the outer surface protein A (OspA) gene of B. burgdorferi sensu lato. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that the sequence similarity of these spirochetes, ranging from 90.5% to 98.7% is highly homogeneous within the B. burgdorferi sensu stricto genospecies and clearly distinguishable from other Borrelia genospecies. These results provide the first evidence of B. burgdorferi spirochetes detected in I. granulatus ticks and confirm their genetic relationship to B. burgdorferi sensu stricto.
authors.affiliation: Department and Graduate Institute of Entomology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Li-Lian
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Chao
authors.forename: Wen-Jer
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Chien-Ming
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Shih
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001096:Arachnid Vectors / Q000382:microbiology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005260:Female; D018884:Ixodes / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D051381:Rats; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D012788:Shrews; D013624:Taiwan
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial