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Infection and Immunity, May 1999, p. 2633-2637, Vol. 67, No. 5
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Specific Antibodies Reactive with the 22-Kilodalton Major Outer Surface Protein of Borrelia anserina Ni-NL Protect Chicks from Infection

Vittorio Sambri,1 Antonella Marangoni,1 Andrea Olmo,1 Elisa Storni,1 Marco Montagnani,1 Massimo Fabbi,2 and Roberto Cevenini1,*

Sezione di Microbiologia, DMCSS, University of Bologna, St. Orsola Hospital, 40138 Bologna,1 and Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia ed Emilia, Pavia,2 Italy

Received 4 November 1998/Returned for modification 4 January 1999/Accepted 1 March 1999

An outer surface lipoprotein of 22 kDa was identified in the avian pathogen Borrelia anserina Ni-NL by using antibody preparations reactive with bacterial surface-exposed proteins. Amino acid sequence analysis of the 22-kDa protein demonstrated 90% identity with VmpA of B. turicatae, suggesting that the protein belongs to the family of 20-kDa outer surface proteins of the genus Borrelia. All of the 60 chicks intramuscularly treated with antibodies specifically reacting with the 22-kDa protein and infected with strain Ni-NL were completely protected from infection, since no spirochetemia was detected, and from death. Control chicks were treated with immune sera raised against apathogenic strain B. anserina Es, which expresses a prominent 20-kDa polypeptide that is also a member of the Vmp family but does not cross-react immunologically with the 22-kDa protein of the Ni-NL strain. These animals, infected with B. anserina Ni-NL, showed a high degree of spirochetemia 10 days after infection, and all died between 14 and 21 days after infection. The results showed that the 22-kDa surface protein of B. anserina Ni-NL is a determinant of the pathogenic potential of the strain and also confirmed that only strain-specific antibodies are protective against B. anserina infection.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Section of Microbiology, DMCSS, University of Bologna, St. Orsola Hospital, via Massarenti 9, 40138 Bologna, Italy. Phone: 39/051/4290913. Fax: 39/051/341632. E-mail: cevenini{at}med.unibo.it.

Infection and Immunity, May 1999, p. 2633-2637, Vol. 67, No. 5
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

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