Assessing the Contribution of an HtrA Family Serine Protease During Borrelia turicatae Mammalian Infection.

ABSTRACT: Tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF), characterized by recurring febrile episodes, is globally distributed and among the most common bacterial infections in some African countries. Despite the public health concern that this disease represents, little is known regarding the virulence determinants required by TBRF Borrelia during infection. Because the chromosomes of TBRF Borrelia show extensive colinearity with those of Lyme disease (LD) Borrelia, the exceptions represent unique genes encoding proteins that are potentially essential to the disparate enzootic cycles of these two groups of spirochetes. One such exception is a gene encoding an HtrA family protease, BtpA, that is present in TBRF Borrelia, but not in LD spirochetes. Previous work suggested that btpA<

SUBMITTER: Jackson-Litteken CD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6700303 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature