Genotyping and Quantifying Lyme Pathogen Strains by Deep Sequencing of the Outer Surface Protein C (ospC) Locus.

ABSTRACT: A mixed infection of a single tick or host by Lyme disease spirochetes is common and a unique challenge for the diagnosis, treatment, and surveillance of Lyme disease. Here, we describe a novel protocol for differentiating Lyme strains on the basis of deep sequencing of the hypervariable outer surface protein C locus (ospC). Improving upon the traditional DNA-DNA hybridization method, the next-generation sequencing-based protocol is high throughput, quantitative, and able to detect new pathogen strains. We applied the method to more than one hundred infected Ixodes scapularis ticks collected from New York State, USA, in 2015 and 2016. An analysis of strain distributions within individual ticks suggests an overabundance of multiple infections by five or more strains, inhibitor

SUBMITTER: Di L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6204676 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature