Biodiversity of Borrelia burgdorferi strains in tissues of Lyme disease patients.

ABSTRACT: Plant and animal biodiversity are essential to ecosystem health and can provide benefits to humans ranging from aesthetics to maintaining air quality. Although the importance of biodiversity to ecology and conservation biology is obvious, such measures have not been applied to strains of an invasive bacterium found in human tissues during infection. In this study, we compared the strain biodiversity of Borrelia burgdorferi found in tick populations with that found in skin, blood, synovial fluid or cerebrospinal fluid of Lyme disease patients. The biodiversity of B. burgdorferi strains is significantly greater in tick populations than in the skin of patients with erythema migrans. In turn, strains from skin are significantly more diverse than strains at any of the disseminated sites. The ce

SUBMITTER: Brisson D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3150399 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature