scholarly journals Distinct Combinations of Borrelia burgdorferiSensu Lato Genospecies Found in Individual Questing Ticks from Europe

2001 ◽  
Vol 67 (10) ◽  
pp. 4926-4929 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus Kurtenbach ◽  
Simona De Michelis ◽  
Henna-Sisko Sewell ◽  
Susanne Etti ◽  
Stefanie M. Schäfer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Borrelia Burgdorferi ◽  
Lyme Borreliosis ◽  
Ixodes Ricinus ◽  
Pcr Amplification ◽  
Mixed Infections ◽  
Direct Pcr ◽  
Specific Hybridization ◽  
Questing Ticks ◽  
Individual Adult

ABSTRACT The genetic diversity of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato was assessed in individual adult Ixodes ricinusticks from Europe by direct PCR amplification of spirochetal DNA followed by genospecies-specific hybridization. Analysis of mixed infections in the ticks showed that B.garinii and B. valaisianasegregate from B. afzelii. This and previous findings suggest that host complement interacts with spirochetes in the tick, thereby playing an important role in the ecology of Lyme borreliosis.

scholarly journals Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato genospecies in Ixodes ricinus ticks feeding on passerine birds in southern Norway

Biologija ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Radzijevskaja ◽  
Olav Rosef ◽  
Vesta Matulaitytė ◽  
Algimantas Paulauskas
Keyword(s):  
Borrelia Burgdorferi ◽  
Ixodes Ricinus ◽  
Pcr Amplification ◽  
Borrelia Burgdorferi Sensu Lato ◽  
Passerine Birds ◽  
Direct Pcr ◽  
Turdus Merula ◽  
Questing Ticks ◽  
Ixodes Ricinus Ticks ◽  
Southern Norway

Birds are increasingly considered important in the  global dispersal of tick-borne pathogens. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato genospecies in Ixodes ricinus ticks collected on passerine birds from two ornithological stations (Jomfruland and Lista) in southern Norway. In both sampling sites a total of 608 (109 larvae and 499 nymphs) of immature ticks were collected from 157 infested birds representing 26 species. The presence of B. burgdorferi s.l. DNA in ticks was tested using direct PCR amplification of the ospA gene, localized on lp-54 plasmid in B. burgdorferi s.l. genome. Twenty one out of 157 infested (13%) birds carried B. burgdorferi s.l. infected Ixodes ricinus ticks. B. burgdorferi s.l. DNA was detected in 19.7% of the tick samples. In total, 6.4% of larvae (7/109) and 10% of nymphs (50/499) were positive. The vast majority of infected ticks were found on blackbird (Turdus merula). The most frequent genospecies was B. garinii (85.5%), followed by B. afzelii (9.0%) and B. valaisiana (5.5%). Five different B. garinii genotypes were identified. Our findings showed that the blackbirds may support the circulation and spread of B. garinii and B. valaisiana. B. garinii was not detected in questing ticks from investigated locations. B. afzelii genospecies, however, dominated in questing ticks, rodents and ticks from rodents.

Association of Borrelia afzelii with rodents in Europe

Parasitology ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 126 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. HANINCOVÁ ◽  
S. M. SCHÄFER ◽  
S. ETTI ◽  
H.-S. SEWELL ◽  
V. TARAGELOVÁ ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Borrelia Burgdorferi ◽  
Lyme Borreliosis ◽  
Tick Infestation ◽  
Zoonotic Transmission ◽  
Host Association ◽  
Borrelia Afzelii ◽  
Hard Ticks ◽  
Bank Voles ◽  
Endemic Focus ◽  
Questing Ticks

Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) is maintained in nature by complex zoonotic transmission cycles, involving a large variety of vertebrates as hosts and hard ticks of the genus Ixodes as vectors. Recent studies suggest that the genospecies of B. burgdorferi s.l. and sometimes their subtypes are propagated by different spectra of hosts, mainly birds and rodents. In order to test the concept of host-association, we analysed the relationships between Borrelia genospecies, rodent hosts and I. ricinus ticks in an endemic focus of Lyme borreliosis in western Slovakia. Rodents and questing ticks were collected at a forested lowland locality near Bratislava. Tick infestation levels on rodents were determined, and spirochaete infections in ticks and in ear punch biopsies were analysed by PCR followed by genotyping. Mice were more heavily infested with ticks than bank voles, and a higher proportion of mice was infected with spirochaetes than voles. However, the infectivity of voles was much higher than that of mice. The vast majority of infections detected in the skin and in ticks feeding on the rodents represented B. afzelii. In contrast, more than half of all infections in questing ticks collected in the same region of Slovakia were identified as B. valaisiana and B. garinii. In conclusion, whilst the study reveals that mice and voles play different quantitative roles in the ecology of Lyme borreliosis, it demonstrates that B. afzelii is specifically maintained by European rodents, validating the concept of host-association of B. burgdorferi s.l.

scholarly journals Species Co-Occurrence Patterns among Lyme Borreliosis Pathogens in the Tick Vector Ixodes ricinus

2013 ◽  
Vol 79 (23) ◽  
pp. 7273-7280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Coralie Herrmann ◽  
Lise Gern ◽  
Maarten J. Voordouw
Keyword(s):  
Lyme Borreliosis ◽  
Ixodes Ricinus ◽  
Vertebrate Host ◽  
Mixed Infections ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Tick Vector ◽  
Pairwise Interactions ◽  
Spirochete Load ◽  
Reservoir Hosts

ABSTRACTMixed infections have important consequences for the ecology and evolution of host-parasite interactions. In vector-borne diseases, interactions between pathogens occur in both the vertebrate host and the arthropod vector. Spirochete bacteria belonging to theBorrelia burgdorferisensu latogenospecies complex are transmitted byIxodesticks and cause Lyme borreliosis in humans. In Europe, there is a high diversity ofBorreliapathogens, and the main tick vector,Ixodes ricinus, is often infected with multipleBorreliagenospecies. In the present study, we characterized the pairwise interactions between fiveB. burgdorferisensu latogenospecies in a large data set ofI. ricinusticks collected from the same field site in Switzerland. We measured two types of pairwise interactions: (i) co-occurrence, whether double infections occurred more or less often than expected, and (ii) spirochete load additivity, whether the total spirochete load in double infections was greater or less than the sum of the single infections. Mixed infections ofBorreliagenospecies specialized on different vertebrate reservoir hosts occurred less frequently than expected (negative co-occurrence) and had joint spirochete loads that were lower than the additive expectation (inhibition). In contrast, mixed infections of genospecies that share the same reservoir hosts were more common than expected (positive co-occurrence) and had joint spirochete loads that were similar to or greater than the additive expectation (facilitation). Our study suggests that the vertebrate host plays an important role in structuring the community ofB. burgdorferisensu latogenospecies inside the tick vector.

scholarly journals Comparison in the immunological properties ofBorrelia burgdorferiisolates fromIxodes ricinusderived from three endemic areas in Switzerland

1994 ◽  
Vol 112 (3) ◽  
pp. 533-542 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. M. Hu ◽  
S. Leuba-Garcia ◽  
M. D. Kramer ◽  
A. Aeschlimann ◽  
L. Gern
Keyword(s):  
Monoclonal Antibody ◽  
Borrelia Burgdorferi ◽  
Lyme Borreliosis ◽  
Ixodes Ricinus ◽  
Outer Surface ◽  
Surface Proteins ◽  
Immunological Properties ◽  
Outer Surface Proteins ◽  
Sds Page ◽  
Further Development

SUMMARYBorrelia burgdorferiisolates were obtained fromIxodes ricinusfrom three sites in Switzerland. They were examined by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting. The phenotypes, in respect of three outer surface proteins (Osp), differed between the sites of collection. In site 1, most isolates had an OspA of 31 kDa and an OspB of 34 kDa: in site 2, isolates presenting an OspA of 33 kDa dominated and in site 3, the isolates with an OspA of 32 kDa and an OspB of 35 kDa were most frequent. This distribution differed significantly. About half of the isolates from sites 1 and 3 reacted with anti-OspA monoclonal antibody H5332 compared to 29% from site 2. Site 1 isolates reacted significantly more frequently (81 %) with another anti-OspA monoclonal antibody LA-31 than isolates from site 3 (P< 0·0001). These findings have implications for the epidemiology of Lyme borreliosis, for the further development of serodiagnostic reagents and for the development of a vaccine.

Sequence typing reveals extensive strain diversity of the Lyme borreliosis agents Borrelia burgdorferi in North America and Borrelia afzelii in Europe

Microbiology ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 150 (6) ◽  
pp. 1741-1755 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Bunikis ◽  
Ulf Garpmo ◽  
Jean Tsao ◽  
Johan Berglund ◽  
Durland Fish ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Membrane Protein ◽  
Borrelia Burgdorferi ◽  
Outer Membrane ◽  
Lyme Borreliosis ◽  
Outer Membrane Protein ◽  
Eastern United States ◽  
The North ◽  
North Eastern

The genetic polymorphism of Borrelia burgdorferi and Borrelia afzelii, two species that cause Lyme borreliosis, was estimated by sequence typing of four loci: the rrs–rrlA intergenic spacer (IGS) and the outer-membrane-protein gene p66 on the chromosome, and the outer-membrane-protein genes ospA and ospC on plasmids. The major sources of DNA for PCR amplification and sequencing were samples of the B. burgdorferi tick vector Ixodes scapularis, collected at a field site in an endemic region of the north-eastern United States, and the B. afzelii vector Ixodes ricinus, collected at a similar site in southern Sweden. The sequences were compared with those of reference strains and skin biopsy isolates, as well as database sequences. For B. burgdorferi, 10–13 alleles for each of the 4 loci, and a total of 9 distinct clonal lineages with linkage of all 4 loci, were found. For B. afzelii, 2 loci, ospC and IGS, were examined, and 11 IGS genotypes, 12 ospC alleles, and a total of 9 linkage groups were identified. The genetic variants of B. burgdorferi and B. afzelii among samples from the field sites accounted for the greater part of the genetic diversity previously reported from larger areas of the north-eastern United States and central and northern Europe. Although ospC alleles of both species had higher nucleotide diversity than other loci, the ospC locus showed evidence of intragenic recombination and was unsuitable for phylogenetic inference. In contrast, there was no detectable recombination at the IGS locus of B. burgdorferi. Moreover, beyond the signature nucleotides that specified 10 IGS genotypes, there were additional nucleotide polymorphisms that defined a total of 24 subtypes. Maximum-likelihood and parsimony cladograms of B. burgdorferi aligned IGS sequences revealed the subtype sequences to be terminal branches of clades, and the existence of at least three monophyletic lineages within B. burgdorferi. It is concluded that B. burgdorferi and B. afzelii have greater genetic diversity than had previously been estimated, and that the IGS locus alone is sufficient for strain typing and phylogenetic studies.

scholarly journals Prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato and Anaplasmataceae Members in Ixodes ricinus Ticks in Alsace, a Focus of Lyme Borreliosis Endemicity in France

2006 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 3074-3078 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Ferquel ◽  
Martine Garnier ◽  
Jérôme Marie ◽  
Claire Bernède-Bauduin ◽  
Guy Baranton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Borrelia Burgdorferi ◽  
Lyme Borreliosis ◽  
Ixodes Ricinus ◽  
Disease Incidence ◽  
Borrelia Burgdorferi Sensu Lato ◽  
Borrelia Garinii ◽  
Peak Density ◽  
Tick Infection ◽  
Ixodes Ricinus Ticks ◽  
Northeastern France

ABSTRACT Due to the high Lyme borreliosis incidence in Alsace, in northeastern France, we investigated in 2003-2004 three cantons in this region in order to determine the density of Ixodes ricinus ticks infected by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and Anaplasmataceae. The peak density of nymphs infected by B. burgdorferi sensu lato at Munster and Guebwiller, where the disease incidence was high, was among the highest reported in Europe (105 and 114 per 100 m2, respectively). In contrast, the peak density of infected nymphs was low in the canton of Dannemarie (5/100 m2), where the disease incidence was low. The two main species detected in ticks were Borrelia afzelii, more frequent in nymphs, and Borrelia garinii, more frequent in adult ticks. The rates of tick infection by Anaplasma phagocytophilum were 0.4% and 1.2% in nymphs and adults, respectively.

scholarly journals Habitat-Specific Diversity of Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato in Europe, Exemplified by Data from Latvia

2003 ◽  
Vol 69 (5) ◽  
pp. 3008-3010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Etti ◽  
Rosie Hails ◽  
Stefanie M. Schäfer ◽  
Simona De Michelis ◽  
Henna-Sisko Sewell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Borrelia Burgdorferi ◽  
Lyme Borreliosis ◽  
Ixodes Ricinus ◽  
Significant Variation ◽  
Host Community ◽  
Borrelia Burgdorferi Sensu Lato

ABSTRACT The distribution of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato genospecies in questing Ixodes ricinus ticks from ecologically distinct habitats in Latvia was analyzed. A significant variation in the frequency of the genospecies across sites was observed, pointing to the importance of the host community in the ecology of Lyme borreliosis.

scholarly journals Investigating BB0405 as a novel Borrelia afzelii vaccination candidate in Lyme borreliosis

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Klouwens ◽  
J. J. Trentelman ◽  
J. I. Ersoz ◽  
F. Nieves Marques Porto ◽  
R. Sima ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Borrelia Burgdorferi ◽  
Dna Vaccine ◽  
Lyme Borreliosis ◽  
Ixodes Ricinus ◽  
Dna Vaccination ◽  
Sensu Stricto ◽  
Antibody Responses ◽  
Mammalian Host ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Borrelia Afzelii

AbstractBB0405 is a surface exposed Borrelia burgdorferi protein and its vaccination protected mice against B. burgdorferi infection. As BB0405 is highly conserved across different B. burgdorferi sensu lato species, we investigated whether vaccination with recombinant BB0405 or through intradermal bb0405 DNA tattoo vaccination could provide protection against different Borrelia species, specifically against Borrelia afzelii, the predominant B. burgdorferi sensu lato genospecies causing Lyme borreliosis across Eurasia. We immunized C3H/HeN mice with recombinant BB0405 or with a codon-optimized bb0405 DNA vaccine using the pVAC plasmid and immunized corresponding control groups mice with only adjuvant or empty vectors. We subsequently subjected these immunized mice to a tick challenge with B. afzelii CB43-infected Ixodes ricinus nymphs. Upon vaccination, recombinant BB0405 induced a high total IgG response, but bb0405 DNA vaccination did not elicit antibody responses. Both vaccine formulations did not provide protection against Borrelia afzelii strain CB43 after tick challenge. In an attempt to understand the lack of protection of the recombinant vaccine, we determined expression of BB0405 and showed that B. afzelii CB43 spirochetes significantly and drastically downregulate the expression of BB0405 protein at 37 °C compared to 33 °C, where as in B. burgdorferi B31 spirochetes expression levels remain unaltered. Vaccination with recombinant BB0405 was previously shown to protect against B. burgdorferi sensu stricto. Here we show that vaccination with either recombinant BB0405 (or non-immunogenic bb0405 DNA), despite being highly conserved among B. burgdorferi sl genospecies, does not provide cross-protection against B. afzelii, mostly likely due to downregulation of this protein in B. afzelii in the mammalian host.

scholarly journals Genetic Diversity of Borrelia burgdorferi in Lyme Disease Patients as Determined by Culture versus Direct PCR with Clinical Specimens

1999 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 565-569 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dionysios Liveris ◽  
Shobha Varde ◽  
Radha Iyer ◽  
Seth Koenig ◽  
Susan Bittker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Lyme Disease ◽  
Borrelia Burgdorferi ◽  
Intergenic Spacer ◽  
Direct Pcr ◽  
Tissue Samples ◽  
Rflp Type ◽  
Type 3

Two hundred seventeen isolates of Borrelia burgdorferioriginally cultured from skin biopsy samples or blood of early Lyme disease patients were genetically characterized by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) typing of the 16S-23S ribosomal DNA intergenic spacer. Three major RFLP types were observed. Of the cultured isolates, 63 of 217 (29.0%) were type 1, 85 of 217 (39.2%) were type 2, and 58 of 217 (26.7%) were type 3; mixtures of two RFLP types were obtained in 6.0% (13 of 217) of the cultures. Comparison of typing of B. burgdorferi performed directly on 51 patient skin specimens with typing of cultures originally isolated from the same tissue revealed that a much larger proportion of direct tissue samples had mixtures of RFLP types (43.1% by direct typing versus 5.9% by culture [P < 0.001). In addition, identical RFLP types were observed in only 35.5% (11 of 31) of the paired samples. RFLP type 3 organisms were recovered from blood at a significantly lower rate than were either type 1 or type 2 strains. These studies demonstrate that the genetic diversity of B. burgdorferi patient isolates as determined by cultivation differs from that assessed by PCR performed directly on patient tissue.

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