2023/03/07 by Priyanka Mukherjee, Priyanka G. Mukherjee, Dionysios Liveris +6 · 4 citations
Immunology and Microbiology · Medicine · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Vector-borne infectious diseases #Viral Infections and Vectors #Vector-Borne Animal Diseases
paper · pdf · doi:10.1128/iai.00456-22
was exchanged between B. burgdorferi isolates with different capacities to disseminate in laboratory mice, and these strains were then tested for their ability to disseminate in mice. The results indicated that the ability of B. burgdorferi to disseminate in mammalian hosts does not depend on OspC alone. The complete genome sequences of two closely related strains of B. burgdorferi with differing dissemination phenotypes were determined, but a specific genetic locus that could explain the differences in the phenotypes could not be definitively identified. The animal studies performed clearly demonstrated that OspC is not the sole determinant of dissemination. Future studies of the type described here with additional borrelial strains will hopefully clarify the genetic elements associated with hematogenous dissemination.