This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Porcella, S. F. Articles by Schwan, T. G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Porcella, S. F. Articles by Schwan, T. G.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infection and Immunity, October 2005, p. 6647-6658, Vol. 73, No. 10
0019-9567/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.73.10.6647-6658.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Variable Tick Protein in Two Genomic Groups of the Relapsing Fever Spirochete Borrelia hermsii in Western North America

Stephen F. Porcella,¹ Sandra J. Raffel,¹ Donald E. Anderson Jr.,^1,2, Stacey D. Gilk,^1, James L. Bono,^1, Merry E. Schrumpf,¹ and Tom G. Schwan^1*

Laboratory of Human Bacterial Pathogenesis, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 903 South 4th Street, Hamilton, Montana,¹ Sacred Heart Medical Center, Spokane, Washington²

Received 8 April 2005/ Returned for modification 5 May 2005/ Accepted 2 June 2005

Borrelia hermsii is the primary cause of tick-borne relapsing fever in North America. When its tick vector, Ornithodoros hermsi, acquires these spirochetes from the blood of an infected mammal, the bacteria switch their outer surface from one of many bloodstream variable major proteins (Vmps) to a unique protein, Vtp (Vsp33). Vtp may be critical for successful tick transmission of B. hermsii; however, the gene encoding this protein has been described previously in only one isolate. Here we identified and sequenced the vtp gene in 31 isolates of B. hermsii collected over 40 years from localities throughout much of its known geographic distribution. Seven major Vtp types were found. Little or no sequence variation existed within types, but between them significant variation was observed, similar to the pattern of diversity described for the outer surface protein C (OspC) gene in Lyme disease spirochetes. The pattern of sequence relatedness among the Vtp types was incongruent in two branches compared to two genomic groups identified among the isolates by multilocus sequence typing of the 16S rRNA, flaB, gyrB, and glpQ genes. Therefore, both horizontal transfer and recombination within and between the two genomic groups were responsible for some of the variation observed in the vtp gene. O. hermsi ticks were capable of transmitting spirochetes in the newly identified genomic group. Therefore, given the longevity of the tick vector and persistent infection of spirochetes in ticks, these arthropods rather than mammals may be the likely host where the exchange of spirochetal DNA occurs.

Editor: J. T. Barbieri

Present address: 24 Pawnee Point, Outlet Bay, Priest Lake, ID 83856.

Present address: Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 108 Taylor Hall/ CB#7090, Chapel Hill, NC 27599.

Present address: Animal Health Research Unit, US Meat Animal Research Center, ARS, USDA, Clay Center, NE 68933.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Hovis, K. M., Freedman, J. C., Zhang, H., Forbes, J. L., Marconi, R. T. (2008). Identification of an Antiparallel Coiled-Coil/Loop Domain Required for Ligand Binding by the Borrelia hermsii FhbA Protein: Additional Evidence for the Role of FhbA in the Host-Pathogen Interaction. Infect. Immun. 76: 2113-2122 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Pettersson, J., Schrumpf, M. E., Raffel, S. J., Porcella, S. F., Guyard, C., Lawrence, K., Gherardini, F. C., Schwan, T. G. (2007). Purine Salvage Pathways among Borrelia Species. Infect. Immun. 75: 3877-3884 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Rossmann, E., Kraiczy, P., Herzberger, P., Skerka, C., Kirschfink, M., Simon, M. M., Zipfel, P. F., Wallich, R. (2007). Dual Binding Specificity of a Borrelia hermsii-Associated Complement Regulator-Acquiring Surface Protein for Factor H and Plasminogen Discloses a Putative Virulence Factor of Relapsing Fever Spirochetes. J. Immunol. 178: 7292-7301 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Earnhart, C. G., Marconi, R. T. (2007). OspC Phylogenetic Analyses Support the Feasibility of a Broadly Protective Polyvalent Chimeric Lyme Disease Vaccine. CVI 14: 628-634 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Gaumond, G., Tyropolis, A., Grodzicki, S., Bushmich, S. (2006). Comparison of direct fluorescent antibody staining and real-time polymerase chain reaction for the detection of Borrelia burgdorferi in Ixodes scapularis ticks. jvdi 18: 583-586 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Hovis, K. M., Schriefer, M. E., Bahlani, S., Marconi, R. T. (2006). Immunological and Molecular Analyses of the Borrelia hermsii Factor H and Factor H-Like Protein 1 Binding Protein, FhbA: Demonstration of Its Utility as a Diagnostic Marker and Epidemiological Tool for Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever.. Infect. Immun. 74: 4519-4529 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Tilly, K., Krum, J. G., Bestor, A., Jewett, M. W., Grimm, D., Bueschel, D., Byram, R., Dorward, D., VanRaden, M. J., Stewart, P., Rosa, P. (2006). Borrelia burgdorferi OspC Protein Required Exclusively in a Crucial Early Stage of Mammalian Infection.. Infect. Immun. 74: 3554-3564 [Abstract] [Full Text]