Central role of the Holliday junction helicase RuvAB in vlsE recombination and infectivity of Borrelia burgdorferi.

ABSTRACT: Antigenic variation plays a vital role in the pathogenesis of many infectious bacteria and protozoa including Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease. VlsE, a 35 kDa surface-exposed lipoprotein, undergoes antigenic variation during B. burgdorferi infection of mammalian hosts, and is believed to be a critical mechanism by which the spirochetes evade immune clearance. Random, segmental recombination between the expressed vlsE gene and adjacent vls silent cassettes generates a large number of different VlsE variants within the infected host. Although the occurrence and importance of vlsE sequence variation is well established, little is known about the biological mechanism of vlsE recombination. To identify factors important in antigenic variation and vlsE recombination, we

SUBMITTER: Lin T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2780311 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature