Longitudinal map of transcriptome changes in the Lyme pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi during tick-borne transmission.

ABSTRACT: Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb), the causative agent of Lyme disease, adapts to vastly different environments as it cycles between tick vector and vertebrate host. During a tick bloodmeal, Bb alters its gene expression to prepare for vertebrate infection; however, the full range of transcriptional changes that occur over several days inside of the tick are technically challenging to capture. We developed an experimental approach to enrich Bb cells to longitudinally define their global transcriptomic landscape inside nymphal Ixodes scapularis ticks during a transmitting bloodmeal. We identified 192 Bb genes that substantially change expression over the course of the bloodmeal from 1 to 4 days after host attachment. The majority of upregulated genes encode

SUBMITTER: Sapiro AL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10393048 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature