Global Tn-seq analysis of carbohydrate utilization and vertebrate infectivity of Borrelia burgdorferi.

ABSTRACT: Borrelia burgdorferi maintains a complex life cycle between tick and vertebrate hosts. Although some genes have been identified as contributing to bacterial adaptation in the different hosts, the list is incomplete. In this manuscript, we report the first use of transposon mutagenesis combined with high-throughput sequencing (Tn-seq) in B. burgdorferi. We utilize the technique to investigate mechanisms of carbohydrate utilization in B. burgdorferi and the role of carbohydrate metabolism during mouse infection. We performed genetic fitness analyses to identify genes encoding factors contributing to growth on glucose, maltose, mannose, trehalose and N-acetyl-glucosamine. We obtained insight into the potential functions of proteins predicted to be involved in carbohydrate utilization and iden

SUBMITTER: Troy EB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5028225 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature