| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
Istituto Cantonale Batteriosierologico, 6904 Lugano, Switzerland
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Istituto Cantonale Batteriosierologico, via Ospedale 6, 6904 Lugano, Switzerland. Phone: (004191) 923 25 22. Fax: (004191) 922 09 93. Electronic mail address: piffaret{at}cmu.unige.ch.
ABSTRACT
In recent years, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato has been subdivided into three species, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, Borrelia garinii, and Borrelia afzelii, and a new species restricted to Japan, Borrelia japonica, has been isolated from Ixodes ovatus. In addition, members of several new genomic groups have been found in America and in Europe, suggesting that there are additional genospecies. In order to study the diversity of B. burgdorferi sensu lato, we analyzed 54 isolates cultured from humans and from different tick species and obtained from diverse geographic areas, including Europe, the United States, Japan, and the People's Republic of China. In order to investigate the genetic relationship between microorganisms that are transmitted by soft ticks and microorganisms that cause Lyme disease, we also included three strains of relapsing fever spirochetes. The method which we used was multilocus enzyme electrophoresis; 12 genetic loci were characterized on the basis of the electrophoretic mobilities of their products, and 50 distinct allele profiles (electrophoretic types) were distinguished. The mean genetic diversity per locus was 0.747. A cluster analysis of a matrix of genetic distances for pairs of electrophoretic types revealed 11 divisions that were separated at genetic distances greater than 0.65. Five of these divisions corresponded to B. burgdorferi sensu stricto. B. garinii, B. afzelii, B. japonica, and the newly proposed species "Borrelia andersonii". Our results also confirmed that there are two additional genomic groups in Europe and at least one additional group in the United States. The relapsing fever spirochetes were not clearly separated from the spirochetes associated with Lyme disease. In conclusion, we believe that the previously proposed subdivision of B. burgdorferi sensu lato into only four species should be reconsidered.
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  D. Brisson and D. E. Dykhuizen ospC Diversity in Borrelia burgdorferi: Different Hosts Are Different Niches Genetics, October 1, 2004; 168(2): 713 - 722. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 W.-G. Qiu, S. E. Schutzer, J. F. Bruno, O. Attie, Y. Xu, J. J. Dunn, C. M. Fraser, S. R. Casjens, and B. J. Luft Genetic exchange and plasmid transfers in Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto revealed by three-way genome comparisons and multilocus sequence typing PNAS, September 28, 2004; 101(39): 14150 - 14155. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 H.-S. Park, J.-H. Lee, E.-J. Jeong, S.-E. Koh, T.-K. Park, W.-J. Jang, K.-H. Park, B.-J. Kim, Y.-H. Kook, and S.-H. Lee Evaluation of groEL Gene Analysis for Identification of Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato J. Clin. Microbiol., March 1, 2004; 42(3): 1270 - 1273. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
T. Lin, J. H. Oliver Jr., and L. Gao Genetic Diversity of the Outer Surface Protein C Gene of Southern Borrelia Isolates and Its Possible Epidemiological, Clinical, and Pathogenetic Implications J. Clin. Microbiol., July 1, 2002; 40(7): 2572 - 2583. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
W.-G. Qiu, D. E. Dykhuizen, M. S. Acosta, and B. J. Luft Geographic Uniformity of the Lyme Disease Spirochete (Borrelia burgdorferi) and Its Shared History With Tick Vector (Ixodes scapularis) in the Northeastern United States Genetics, March 1, 2002; 160(3): 833 - 849. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 V. V. Vieira, L. F. M. Teixeira, A. C. P. Vicente, H. Momen, and C. A. Salles Differentiation of Environmental and Clinical Isolates of Vibrio mimicus from Vibrio cholerae by Multilocus Enzyme Electrophoresis Appl. Envir. Microbiol., May 1, 2001; 67(5): 2360 - 2364. [Abstract] [Full Text]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S.-H. Lee, B.-J. Kim, J.-H. Kim, K.-H. Park, S.-J. Kim, and Y.-H. Kook Differentiation of Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato on the Basis of RNA Polymerase Gene (rpoB) Sequences J. Clin. Microbiol., July 1, 2000; 38(7): 2557 - 2562. [Abstract] [Full Text]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. Gutacker, C. Valsangiacomo, and J.-C. Piffaretti Identification of two genetic groups in Bacteroides fragilis by multilocus enzyme electrophoresis: distribution of antibiotic resistance (cfiA, cepA) and enterotoxin (bft) encoding genes Microbiology, May 1, 2000; 146(5): 1241 - 1254. [Abstract] [Full Text]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 G. Wang, A. P. van Dam, I. Schwartz, and J. Dankert Molecular Typing of Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato: Taxonomic, Epidemiological, and Clinical Implications Clin. Microbiol. Rev., October 1, 1999; 12(4): 633 - 653. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. Majewski and F. M. Cohan Adapt Globally, Act Locally: The Effect of Selective Sweeps on Bacterial Sequence Diversity Genetics, August 1, 1999; 152(4): 1459 - 1474. [Abstract] [Full Text]
|
|
|
|
|
|
I.-N. Wang, D. E. Dykhuizen, W. Qiu, J. J. Dunn, E. M. Bosler, and B. J. Luft Genetic Diversity of ospC in a Local Population of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto Genetics, January 1, 1999; 151(1): 15 - 30. [Abstract] [Full Text]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D. Postic, N. M. Ras, R. S. Lane, M. Hendson, and G. Baranton Expanded Diversity among Californian Borrelia Isolates and Description of Borrelia bissettii sp. nov. (Formerly Borrelia Group DN127) J. Clin. Microbiol., December 1, 1998; 36(12): 3497 - 3504. [Abstract] [Full Text]
|
|
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| INT J SYST EVOL MICROBIOL | MICROBIOLOGY | J GEN VIROL |
| J MED MICROBIOL | ALL SGM JOURNALS | |
