<i>Borrelia burgdorferi</i> loses essential genetic elements and cell proliferative potential during stationary phase in culture but not in the tick vector.

ABSTRACT: The Lyme disease agent Borrelia burgdorferi is a polyploid bacterium with a segmented genome in which both the chromosome and over 20 distinct plasmids are present in multiple copies per cell. This pathogen can survive for at least 9 months in its tick vector in an apparent dormant state between blood meals, without losing cell proliferative capability when re-exposed to nutrients. Cultivated B. burgdorferi cells grown to stationary phase or resuspended in nutrient-limited media are often used to study the effects of nutrient deprivation. However, a thorough assessment of the spirochete's ability to recover from nutrient depletion has been lacking. Our study shows that starved B. burgdorferi cultures rapidly lose cell proliferative ability. Loss of genetic elements ess

SUBMITTER: Zhang J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11925233 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature