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Infection and Immunity, November 2008, p. 5228-5237, Vol. 76, No. 11
0019-9567/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.00410-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Outer Surface Protein A Protects Lyme Disease Spirochetes from Acquired Host Immunity in the Tick Vector{triangledown}

James M. Battisti,{dagger} James L. Bono,{ddagger} Patricia A. Rosa, Merry E. Schrumpf, Tom G. Schwan, and Paul F. Policastro*

Laboratory of Zoonotic Pathogens, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana 59840

Received 2 April 2008/ Returned for modification 19 May 2008/ Accepted 29 August 2008

The Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi alters the expression of outer surface protein (osp) genes as the bacterium cycles between ticks and mammals. OspA is produced as borreliae enter the tick vector and remains a major surface antigen during midgut colonization. To elucidate the role of OspA in the vector, we created an insertional deletion of ospA in strain B31-A3. The ospA mutant infects mice when it is injected intradermally and is acquired by larval ticks fed on these mice, where it persists through the molt to the nymph stage. Bacterial survival rates in artificially infected tick larvae fed on naïve mice were compared with those in the vector fed on immune mice. The ospA mutant proliferates in larvae if it is exposed to blood from naïve mice, but it declines in density after larval feeding if the blood is from immune mice. When uninfected larvae are fed on B-cell-deficient mice infected with the ospA mutant, larvae show borrelial densities and persistence that are significantly greater than those fed on infected, immunocompetent mice. We conclude that OspA serves a critical antibody-shielding role during vector blood meal uptake from immune hosts and is not required for persistence in the tick vector.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Rocky Mountain Laboratories, NIAID, NIH, 903 S. 4th Street, Hamilton, MT 59840. Phone: (406) 363-9290. Fax: (406) 363-9445. E-mail: ppolicastro{at}niaid.nih.gov

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 8 September 2008.

Editor: R. P. Morrison

{dagger} Present address: Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, 32 Campus Drive 4824, Missoula, MT 59812-4824.

{ddagger} Present address: U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Spur 18D, Clay Center, NE 68933.

Infection and Immunity, November 2008, p. 5228-5237, Vol. 76, No. 11
0019-9567/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.00410-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Sarkar, A., Tilly, K., Stewart, P., Bestor, A., Battisti, J. M., Rosa, P. A. (2009). Borrelia burgdorferi Resistance to a Major Skin Antimicrobial Peptide Is Independent of Outer Surface Lipoprotein Content. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 53: 4490-4494 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Mulay, V. B., Caimano, M. J., Iyer, R., Dunham-Ems, S., Liveris, D., Petzke, M. M., Schwartz, I., Radolf, J. D. (2009). Borrelia burgdorferi bba74 Is Expressed Exclusively during Tick Feeding and Is Regulated by Both Arthropod- and Mammalian Host-Specific Signals. J. Bacteriol. 191: 2783-2794 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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